Epidemiologic Characteristics of Malignant Neoplasms in Taiwan: III. Stomach Cancer

Abstract

Mortality rates from 1954 to 1983 and incidence rates from 1983 to 1985 of stomach cancer in Taiwan were analyzed to examine its secular trend, age curve, sex ratio, geographical clustering, international variation and migrant difference. Both mortality and incidence rates of stomach cancer increased with age in a log-linear relationship and peaked at the highest age group. The sex (male-to-female) ratio remained consistently around two-fold for age-specific mortality and incidence rates. The age-adjusted mortality has been decreasing since early 1970s for both males and females. Among 17 countries and areas compared, cumulative stomach cancer mortality in Taiwan ranked as the 11th and 13th, respectively, for males and females. High stomach cancer mortality rates were found to cluster in northeastern area and eastern aboriginal townships in Taiwan. Migrant study showed that Chinese in United States had much lower stomach cancer incidence than those in Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and Hong Kong.