A rising trend in the incidence of advanced gastric cancer in young Hispanic men

• Published in: Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 226 - 234
• Main Authors: Merchant, Shaila J., Kim, Joseph, Choi, Audrey H., Sun, Virginia, Chao, Joseph, Nelson, Rebecca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01.03.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abdominal Surgery; Adult; African Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Aged; Cancer Research; Cohort Studies; European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Gastric cancer; Gastroenterology; Hispanic Americans - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Incidence; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Oncology; Original Article; Prognosis; Registries - statistics & numerical data; SEER Program; Sex Factors; Stomach Neoplasms - epidemiology; Surgical Oncology; United States - epidemiology; Young Adult; Advanced disease; Gastric cancer; Hispanic; Incidence
• ISSN: 1436-3291; 1436-3305; 1436-3305
• DOI: 10.1007/s10120-016-0603-7

Background Although the incidence of gastric cancer has been decreasing, recent reports suggest an increased rate in select populations. We sought to evaluate trends in gastric cancer incidence to identify high-risk populations. Methods Gastric cancer incidence rates from 1992 to 2011 were computed with use of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry. We evaluated trends in incidence rates by calculating the annual percent change (APC) across three age groups (20–49 years, 50–64 years, and 65 years or older) and four racial/ethnic groups (Hispanics, non-Hispanic whites, blacks, and Asian/Pacific Islanders). Results We identified 41,428 patients with gastric cancer. For the entire cohort during the study period, the APC was decreased. When patients were grouped according to sex, the APC was flat or decreased in women regardless of age or race/ethnicity. The APC was also flat or decreased for all men except young Hispanic men (20–49 years), who had an increased APC of nearly 1.6 % (1.55 %, 95 % confidence interval 0.26–2.86 %). Furthermore, young Hispanic men were the only group to have increased incidence of stage IV disease (APC 4.34 %, 95 % confidence interval 2.76–5.94 %) and poorly differentiated tumors (APC 2.08 %, 95 % confidence interval 0.48–3.70 %). Conclusions The APC of the incidence of gastric cancer in young Hispanic men places it among the top cancers with rising incidence in the USA. This is concomitant with increased incidence of advanced disease at presentation. This major public health concern warrants additional research to determine the cause of the increasing incidence in this group.