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A recent study suggests that those born between 2008 and 2017, amounting to over 15 million people, could be at an added risk of developing gastric cancer at some point in their lives. The researchers suggest India is likely to be second on the list, following China, in terms of the number of projected cases. Asia and Africa are expected to be worst affected, with over two-thirds of the patients concentrated in these two continents.
Researchers Call For Investment In Preventing Gastric Cancer
Scientists, including those at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer agency of the World Health Organisation, used the GLOBOCAN 2022 database to analyse the incidence of gastric cancer in 185 countries, and projected death rates using United Nations demographic data. "Globally, 15.6 million lifetime gastric cancer cases are expected within these birth cohorts, 76% of which are linked to Helicobacter pylori," the study said. The study, published in Journal Nature Medicine, called for the global community to invest more in preventing gastric cancer. “While some high-resource countries, in particular East Asian countries, have developed coordinated early detection programs, gastric cancer is still the fifth most common cause of cancer death worldwide, and there is reason to believe that gastric cancer will continue to be an important public health issue into the foreseeable future without effective intervention. Gastric cancer continues to be considered an ‘unplanned success’ from primary prevention, but has not received the same concerted investment as other infection-related cancers, such as cervical or liver cancer,” the study added.
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India Projected To Be Second Worst Hit
Estimates by researchers projected a total of 10.6 million new cases of gastric cancer in Asia- with 6.5 million cases in India and China alone. The anticipated cases from India could be 1,657,670 based on current measures to control gastric cancer remaining unchanged, it was projected. The authors revealed that Sub-Saharan Africa is currently facing a relatively low burden of gastric cancer, but will have a future burden at least six times greater than in 2022.
Also Read: Stomach Cancer Awareness Month: Who Is More Likely to Develop Stomach Cancer—Men or Women, And Why?
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Bottom Line
According to the study, screening people with Helicobacter pylori infections and then treating those infections can dramatically lower the incidence of gastric cancer. “If proper steps are taken by the global medical community and governments across the world, up to 75% of future gastric cancer cases could be prevented,” the study adds.