Lower risk of death from gastric cancer among participants of gastric cancer screening in Japan: A population-based cohort study

• Published in: Preventive medicine Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 12 - 19
• Main Authors: Miyamoto, Akira, Kuriyama, Shinichi, Nishino, Yoshikazu, Tsubono, Yoshitaka, Nakaya, Naoki, Ohmori, Kaori, Kurashima, Kayoko, Shibuya, Daisuke, Tsuji, Ichiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.01.2007
• Subjects: Adult; Cause of Death; Cohort Studies; Cohort study; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Gastric cancer; Gastric cancer screening; Humans; Incidence; Internal Medicine; Japan; Japanese; Male; Mass Screening - mortality; Middle Aged; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) - statistics & numerical data; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Photofluorography; Risk; Stomach Neoplasms - mortality; Stomach Neoplasms - prevention & control; Surveys and Questionnaires; Survival Analysis; Japan; Gastric cancer; Japanese; Cohort study; Gastric cancer screening
• ISSN: 0091-7435; 1096-0260
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.07.016

Abstract Objective. This study aimed to investigate the association between gastric cancer screening and mortality from gastric cancer. Methods. In 1990, 47,605 Japanese subjects were recruited and completed a questionnaire about participation in gastric cancer screening and life-style. We followed up their vital status through December 2001. In this cohort, 41,394 subjects without a history of cancer were allocated to the screened group or the unscreened group according to their response to the question about gastric cancer screening. We estimated the relative risk (RR) of death from gastric cancer, death from any cause except gastric cancer, and incidence of gastric cancer with adjustment for potential confounding variables. Results. The risk of death from gastric cancer among the screened group was significantly lower than that among the unscreened group. The multivariate RR of death from gastric cancer for screened individuals compared with those not screened was 0.54 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.38, 0.77). The RR of death from any cause except gastric cancer was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.77, 0.90), and the RR of incidence of gastric cancer was 0.94 (95% CI: 0.79, 1.13). Conclusion. Our data suggest that gastric cancer screening or factors associated with it may be associated with lower mortality from gastric cancer.