Changes in Incidences of Gastric Cardiac-gastroesophageal Junctional and Sub-cardiac Carcinomas in Nanjing of China: A 20-year Retrospective Study from a Single Tertiary Medical Center

Abstract

Background: The incidence of gastric cancer is decreasing worldwide in recent decades, which is credited to higher living standers and improved healthcare. It remains unclear whether it is true in the mainland China where rapid industrialization has been taken place over the past 30 years. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative and absolute incidence of gastric cardiac cancer occurring in the gastric cardiac-gastroesophageal junctional (GCG) and sub-cardiac (GSC) regions in the Nanjing metropolitan area of China over a 20-year period.

Materials and Methods: Patient pathology reports were reviewed for the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma on gastroduodenoscopic biopsies collected from 1982 through 2001. All reports and corresponding histology slides were retrieved and reviewed to confirm the diagnosis and tumor locations. The patients were sub-grouped into 5 time segments, ie, 1982-1985, 1986-1989, 1990-1993, 1994-1997, and 1998-2001. Within each segment, we collected and analyzed statistically the data on tumor locations (GCG vs GSC), patients’ ages and sexes over time.