Abstract
[Objective] This study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of gastric endoscopic screening in reducing the mortality of gastric cancer.
[Subjects and Methods] Patients who underwent health screenings were divided into three gender- and age-matched groups: an X-ray examination group (n=1,425), an endoscopic examination group (n=2,264), and a non-examination group (n=6,284). They were followed up until December 2008. The cumulative survival rate was calculated for each of the three groups, whereby the hazard ratio for the mortality in each examination group was determined.
[Results] Of the 40 patients having developed gastric cancer (X-ray examination group, 18 patients; endoscopic examination group, 12 patients; and non-examination group, 10 patients), 1 patient in the X-ray examination group, 1 patient in the endoscopic examination group and 8 patients in the non-examination group died of gastric cancer. The cumulative survival rate did not significantly differ between the X-ray examination group and the endoscopic examination group, and was significantly lower in the non-examination group compared to that in the other two groups (p=0.0073). The non-examination group was found to be associated with an 8-fold greater risk of death from gastric cancer than the endoscopic examination group (p=0.0499).
[Conclusion] Endoscopic health screening was noted to be effective in reducing the mortality of gastric cancer, suggesting the possibility that endoscopic health screening is not inferior to screening by X-ray examination in this respect.
