Gastric Cancer Screening in Japan: A Narrative Review.

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer incidence in Japan, although gastric cancer mortality has decreased over the past few decades. This decrease is attributed to a decline in the prevalence of infection. Radiographic examination has long been performed as the only method of gastric screening with evidence of reduction in mortality in the past.

Bleeding Risk Related to Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Biopsy in Patients Receiving Antithrombotic Therapy: A Multicenter Prospective Observational Study.

Background: Although antithrombotic agents are widely used for cardiac and cerebrovascular disease prevention, they increase the risk of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding.

Objective: To examine GI bleeding risk in association with an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) biopsy performed in patients without cessation of antithrombotic therapy.

Methods: This study was prospectively conducted at 14 centers.

Mortality reduction from gastric cancer by endoscopic and radiographic screening.

To evaluate mortality reduction from gastric cancer by endoscopic screening, we undertook a population-based cohort study in which both radiographic and endoscopic screenings for gastric cancer have been carried out. The subjects were selected from the participants of gastric cancer screening in two cities in Japan, Tottori and Yonago, from 2007 to 2008. The subjects were defined as participants aged 40-79 years who had no gastric cancer screening in the previous year.

Survival analysis of patients with interval cancer undergoing gastric cancer screening by endoscopy.

Aims: Interval cancer is a key factor that influences the effectiveness of a cancer screening program. To evaluate the impact of interval cancer on the effectiveness of endoscopic screening, the survival rates of patients with interval cancer were analyzed.

Methods: We performed gastric cancer-specific and all-causes survival analyses of patients with screen-detected cancer and patients with interval cancer in the endoscopic screening group and radiographic screening group using the Kaplan-Meier method.

A community-based, case-control study evaluating mortality reduction from gastric cancer by endoscopic screening in Japan.

Aims: Although the incidence of gastric cancer has decreased in the last 3 decades, it remains the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. In Asian countries, the burden of gastric cancer has remained, and cancer screening is normally expected to reduce gastric cancer death. We conducted a community-based, case-control study to evaluate the reduction of mortality from gastric cancer by endoscopic screening.

Sensitivity of endoscopic screening for gastric cancer by the incidence method.

Although radiographic screening for gastric cancer has been conducted in Japan, it is anticipated that endoscopy will become a new screening method because of its high detection rate. The sensitivities of endoscopic and radiographic screening were calculated by the detection method and the incidence method based on the results of community-based screening in Japan. There were 56,676 screenings for gastric cancer using endoscopy and radiography from April 2002 to March 2007 in Yonago, Japan.

[Effectiveness of S-1 therapy for unresectable/advanced pancreas cancer].

Purpose: Although the susceptibility to chemotherapy of unresectable/advanced pancreatic cancer is very poor, the usefulness of new anticancer drugs, such as S-1, has been reported in recent years. We clinically investigated whether or not S-1 would prolong survival in this study.

Objective: 17 unresectable pancreatic cancer patients who came for consultation between November 2001 and August 2008 (ten men, seven women).