Stomach cancer to fall by 25%
The number of cases is predicted to fall by a quarter
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Tuesday, 14, Aug 2007 10:40
Cases of stomach cancer are set to fall by 25 per cent in western countries, new research suggests.
Stomach cancer is the fourth most common cancer, with nearly 5,700 cases diagnosed in the UK each year.
Danish researchers studying cases of the disease found that they have been steadily declining over the last few decades, leading them to predict further reductions in the future.
They studied three types of cell changes indicative of subsequent stomach cancer: atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia.
All new cases were tracked in the years 1991 to 2005 and nearly 98,000 patients had a routine tissue sample taken.
Cases of intestinal metaplasia fell steadily by 2.4 and 2.9 per cent in men and women respectively.
Dysplasia and atrophic gastritis both fell by more than eight per cent each year.
Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the researchers argue that the fall in the number of cases of gastric inflammation caused by Helicobacter pylori infection – which has been linked to stomach cancer – explains the decline in the figures.
"A considerable further decline in gastric cancer incidence of at least 24 per cent in the coming decade may be anticipated in these countries and this will occur without any specific intervention," the researchers conclude.