www.wjgnet.com GASTRIC CANCER

AIM: To examine how the introduction of endoscopy to gastric cancer screening affected survival prognosis in a regional population. METHODS: The subjects comprised 4261 residents of Kamigoto, Nagasaki Prefecture, who underwent gastric X-ray examination for gastric cancer screening from 1991 to 1995, and all 7178 residents who underwent endoscopic examination for the same purpose from 1996 to 2003. The analysis evaluated trends in age-adjusted gastric cancer mortality rates and standard mortality ratios (SMRs) among the Kamigoto residents. RESULTS: According to demographic statistics, the 1995 and 2000 age-adjusted gastric cancer mortality rates in Nagasaki Prefecture (per 100 000 population) were 42.