Gastric cancer epidemiology in Korea

Abstract

Gastric cancer has been the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Korea although the age-standardized mortality and incidence has decreased gradually during last two decades. Helicobacter pylori infection and cigarette smoking are well-established risk factors, and the role of dietary factors, such as salted foods, fresh vegetables and fruits, soy foods, and processed or grilled meats on gastric carcinogenesis has been suggested. In this review, we review national and international gastric cancer statistics, studies on environmental risk factors conducted in the Korean population, and gastric cancer screening activities.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Incidence; Mortality; Risk factors; Stomach neoplasms.

Fig. 1

Incidence (1999~2008) and mortality (1983~2009) of gastric cancer in Korea. Age standardization was performed using the middle year population of 2000 as a standard population (4).

Fig. 2

Comparison of incidence and mortality of gastric cancer in selected countries with age-standardized rates per 100,000 using the World Health Organization world standard population (1).