Burden of Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer is a global health problem, with more than 1 million people newly diagnosed with gastric cancer worldwide each year. Despite its worldwide decline in incidence and mortality over the past 5 decades, gastric cancer remains the third leading cause of cancer-related death. Knowledge of global as well as regional epidemiology and risk factors for gastric cancer is essential for the practicing gastroenterologist to make personalized decisions about risk stratification, screening, and prevention. In this article, we review the epidemiology of gastric cancer as well as screening and prevention efforts to reduce global morbidity and mortality from gastric cancer. First, we discuss the descriptive epidemiology of gastric cancer, including its incidence, mortality, survival, and secular trends. We combine a synthesis of published studies with an analysis of data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer GLOBOCAN project to describe the global burden of gastric cancer and data from the US Cancer Statistics registry to discuss the change in incidence of gastric cancer in the United States. Next, we summarize current knowledge of risk factors for gastric cancer. Finally, we discuss prevention strategies and screening efforts for gastric cancer.