Abstract
In the mass screening of stomach cancer at our center, double contrast radiography with highdensity barium (new technique) has been performed since March 2000. The rate of individuals requiring further examinations was reduced in the first year of introducing the new technique, raising the positive predictive value and rate of early cancer, but there was no change in the cancer detection rate (already reported). As a result of technicians confirming barium adhesion during radiography and by carrying out a qualitative diagnosis of benignity/malignancy in the image interpretation for the purpose of further improving the accuracy of gastric mass screening, the rate of those requiring further examinations was further reduced to 6.24%, and the cancer detection rate and positive predictive value rose to 0.28% and 5.48% respectively, which are approximately 1.75 and 2.9 times higher compared to conventional methods. Furthermore, in the study of an annual screening of detected cancer, the rate of early cancer by the new technique was 90.9%, and over half of those cases had the invasion depth of m.
The new technique enhances gastric mass screening accuracy by improving the radiography and image interpretation.
