Stomach Cancer Screening in Japan and Korea

Article information

Korean J Helicobacter Up Gastrointest Res. 2024;24(3):199-200
Publication date (electronic) : 2024 September 9
doi : https://doi.org/10.7704/kjhugr.2024.0054
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan
Corresponding author Hidekazu Suzuki, MD, PhD Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan E-mail: hsuzuki@tokai.ac.jp
Received 2024 August 8; Accepted 2024 August 8.

Dear Editor,

This article [1] is very impressive and shows that Korea has an effective gastric cancer screening system. I have two questions.

First, the 5-year survival rate of gastric cancer from 1993 to 1995 was remarkably low at 43.9%. Is this low survival rate due to the cancer being diagnosed at an advanced stage? I think it is because there were many cases of advanced cancer, but this data does not tell us the stage of the cancer at the time of diagnosis.

Second, until 10 years ago, upper gastrointestinal imaging was the main method of gastric cancer preventive screening in Japan, but in Korea, endoscopy has already become mainstream. Could this difference in screening methods have led to the difference in mortality and morbidity rates between the two countries? Could you provide a comparative analysis of the data from the two countries?

Notes

Availability of Data and Material

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the study.

Conflicts of Interest

Hidekazu Suzuki, a contributing editor of the Korean Journal of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research, was not involved in the editorial evaluation or decision to publish this article.

Funding Statement

None

Acknowledgements

None

References

1. Kim YI. Performance of the national cancer screening program for gastric cancer in Korea. Korean J Helicobacter Up Gastrointest Res 2024;24:231–237.

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