Characteristics of gastric cancer in Korea - With an emphasis on the increase of the Early Gastric Cancer (EGC)

Gastric cancer is the most common malignancy and the second leading cause of cancerrelated death in Korea. Age-adjusted annual incidence of gastric cancer per 100,000 persons is 62.8 for male and 25.7 for female. The proportion of early gastric cancer among surgically treated gastric cancer patients was 28.6% in 1995,32.8% in 1999, and 47.4% in 2004. Screening upper endoscopy is quite commonly performed in Korea, and the proportion of early gastric cancer in the screened population is almost 75%. Gastric adenoma is considered to be a very important precancerous lesion. Gastric adenomas are actively treated in Korea, and at least 1/3 of the gastric adenomas with high grade dysplasia show cancerous focus when endoscopically resected. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori is decreasing in Korean population, which may lead to the decreased incidence of gastric cancer in the near future. Paradigms of the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer are rapidly changing in Korea. Efforts to establish robust scientific data for new approaches are strongly required. The proportion of early gastric cancer among all gastric cancers has been and will be more increased in Korea.