Abstract
We investigated the proper selection of examinees for endoscopic gastric cancer mass screening. We analyzed 27 cases of gastric cancer detected at physical check-up [13 cases (male/female: 9/4) by endoscopy and 14 cases (male/female: 11/3) by X-ray] from 2009 to 2011. Among 19 patients who underwent annual gastric cancer screening, the average lesion size detected in four subjects who underwent endoscopy on this occasion and the previous year was significantly smaller than that in 15 cases examined by X-ray the previous year (10.3 mm vs 23.7 mm). These four subjects who underwent repeat endoscopy were treated by ESD. Repeat gastric cancer screening by endoscopy is therefore useful for detecting tumors requiring ESD. Twenty-one of the 27 cases of gastric cancer (78%) were older than 55 years and had open-type atrophic gastritis. The prevalence of atrophic gastritis was significantly higher in age >55 years than in age <55 years (60% vs 34%). The rate of gastric cancer detection was significantly higher in age >55 years than in age <55 years (0.21% vs 0.03%). The rate of gastric cancer detection was 0.4% in subjects who were older than 55 years and had atrophic gastritis. Examinees who are older than 55 years and have atrophic gastritis should thus be selected for endoscopic gastric cancer mass screening.
