Objective: To investigate the gastric cancer risk among populations in urban China with different gastric mucosal status.
Methods: From 2014 to 2015, subjects were recruited in seven cities across five provinces in China for questionnaire surveys. Based on the questionnaire information, high-risk groups for upper gastrointestinal cancer were screened out for endoscopy. Those diagnosed with gastric cancer through the examination were excluded, and the remaining population was followed up until December 31, 2021. According to the examination results, the population was divided into five groups: normal gastric mucosa, gastritis/ulcer/polyp (GUP), atrophic gastritis/intestinal metaplasia (AG/IM), low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (LGIN), and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN). Using the group with normal gastric mucosa as the reference, the Cox proportional hazards model was employed to analyze the risk of gastric cancer in each group.
Results: A total of 10,396 subjects were included in the study. At baseline, the numbers of individuals with normal gastric mucosa, GUP, AG/IM, LGIN, and HGIN were 4,898 cases, 3,741 cases, 999 cases, 737 cases, and 21 cases, respectively. After a follow-up period (with a median follow-up time of 6.77 years), 37 new cases of gastric cancer were identified, including 5 cases of cardiac gastric cancer and 32 cases of non-cardiac gastric cancer. The incidence density (95% CI) of gastric cancer was 53.02 (38.42 ~ 73.17) per 100,000 person-years. For cardia cancer, it was 7.16 (2.98 ~ 17.19) per 100,000 person-years, and for non-cardia cancer, it was 45.84 (32.42 ~ 64.83) per 100,000 person-years. The incidence densities (95% CI) of gastric cancer in the five groups were as follows: 39.73 (23.07 ~ 68.42) per 100,000 person-years, 35.48 (18.46 ~ 68.18) per 100,000 person-years, 74.96 (31.20 ~ 180.08) per 100,000 person-years, 184.18 (95.83 ~ 353.99) per 100,000 person-years, and 715.73 (100.82 ~ 5081.17) per 100,000 person-years. Using the normal gastric mucosa group as the reference, the hazard ratios (HRs) (95% CI) of gastric cancer for the GUP, AG/IM, LGIN, and HGIN groups were 0.90 (0.38 ~ 2.10), 1.90 (0.68 ~ 5.32), 4.62 (1.97 ~ 10.80), and 18.03 (2.36 ~ 137.83), respectively. The adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) exhibited a similar pattern. The incidence density (95% CI) of gastric cancer was 86.18 (58.23 ~ 127.54) per 100,000 person-years in males and 29.43 (16.71 ~ 51.81) per 100,000 person-years in females. Using males as the reference, the HR (95% CI) of gastric cancer in females was 0.34 (0.17 ~ 0.68), and the aHR (95% CI) was 0.63 (0.23 ~ 1.74). The incidence density (95% CI) of gastric cancer was 21.96 (10.47 ~ 46.05) per 100,000 person-years in the 40-54 age group and 79.14 (55.34 ~ 113.19) per 100,000 person-years in the 55-69 age group. Using the 40-54 age group as the reference, the HR (95% CI) of gastric cancer in the 55-69 age group was 3.62 (1.59 ~ 8.23), and the aHR (95% CI) was 3.43 (1.47 ~ 7.98).
Conclusions: Within this population, the proportion of individuals with each gastric mucosal status gradually decreased as the severity of the gastric mucosal status increased. The incidence density of cardia cancer was lower than that of non-cardia gastric cancer. Moreover, the risk of gastric cancer increased with both the severity of gastric mucosal status and advancing age.