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


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that gastric cancer screening or factors associated with it may be associated with lower mortality from gastric cancer.
Miyamoto
Akira
A
Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryou-machi, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan. miyapon@idac.tohoku.ac.jp
Kuriyama
Shinichi
S
Nishino
Yoshikazu
Y
Tsubono
Yoshitaka
Y
Nakaya
Naoki
N
Ohmori
Kaori
K
Kurashima
Kayoko
K
Shibuya
Daisuke
D
Tsuji
Ichiro
I
D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000401:mortality*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010779:Photofluorography; D012306:Risk; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016019:Survival Analysis