title: An epidemiological study of gastric cancer in the adult population referred to gastroenterology medical services in Romania -- a multicentric study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Romanian Society of Digestive Endoscopy proposed a multicentric study to evaluate the prevalence of gastric cancer in the adult population referred to gastroenterology medical services, and also the demographic features of this pathology.
  
  
  METHODS
  . The study was carried out over the period 1 January 2003 - 31 December 2003 in 11 academic centers in Romania, specialized in gastroenterology, with a uniform national distribution (all areas in the country were represented) and with adequate diagnostic and therapeutic facilities. All centers used identical definition criteria and reported the data using the same protocol and a Microsoft Excel database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, 640 cases of gastric cancer were reported. In the first stage, the prevalence in each geographical region was calculated. The national prevalence of gastric cancer in the population referred to gastro-intestinal endoscopy services was 2.9 per 100,000 inhabitants over 18 years of age. The demographic data of the studied group were the following: 66.4% men, 33.6% women, 51.7% urban population, 48.3% rural population, mean age 63.07 +/- 12.10 years. The most frequent indications for upper digestive endoscopy were: dyspepsia, weight loss and appetite. 88% of patients had no history of disease with a high risk of gastric cancer. The majority of patients (95.5 %) had advanced gastric cancer at the time of diagnosis, located in the gastric body (40.1 %) and in the antrum (33.8 %). According to Borrmann's classification, 31.4% had type I fungating gastric cancer and 32.1% had type III ulcero-infiltrative gastric cancer. According to the Lauren classification, the most frequent histological type was intestinal adenocarcinoma (63.8 %). Early gastric cancer was found in 4.4% of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of gastric cancer in the population referred to digestive endoscopy services in Romania is 2.9%, with relatively wide variations at a national level. The study confirms the fact that Romania is a country with a low prevalence of gastric cancer, in accordance with the literature data published for the south of Europe.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Emergency Clinical Hospital, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Str. Gh. Marinescu 1, 4300 Tg. Mures, Romania.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dobru
authors.forename: Oliviu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pascu
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tantau
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gheorghe
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goldis
authors.forename: Gheorghe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Balan
authors.forename: Felicia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Coman
authors.forename: Alexandru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fraticiu
authors.forename: Eugen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dumitru
authors.forename: Eftimie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mutescu
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saftoiu
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bacarea
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology