Incidence of Gastric Cancer
- Worldwide, 989,000 patients are diagnosed with gastric cancer each year, with higher rates in East Asia, Eastern Europe, South America, and the Middle East
- It is the 4th leading cancer in the world and the 2nd leading cancer killer
- In the United States 21,000 patients were diagnosed with gastric cancer in 2010.
- Over 10,000 will die from gastric cancer this year.
- It is the 14th most common cancer in the United States.
- The incidence of gastric cancer is highest in the Asian American population followed by Black, Hispanic, and White Americans.
- Unfortunately, in the United States like in China, gastric cancer is diagnosed at later stages (>60%), when the tumor may have:
- Invaded deeper into the stomach wall.
- Involve adjacent organs.
- Spread to the lymph nodes, the linings of the abdomen.
- Travelled to distant organs.
In Japan and Korea, where the incidence of gastric cancer is much higher, screening endoscopy is a national health policy which has improved gastric cancer free survival. More than 50% of patients are diagnosed at earlier stage of their cancers.