UK Stomach Cancer incidence statistics
This page presents stomach cancer incidence statistics for the UK by sex, by age, histology, trends over time, geographic variation and deprivation. There is also a section looking at incidence of adenocarcinomas of the gastric cardia. The ICD code for stomach cancer is ICD9 151, and ICD 10 C16.
Stomach cancer incidence by:
Stomach cancer is the seventh most common cancer in males in the UK and fourteenth in females. There were 7,713 new cases of stomach cancer diagnosed in 2006 ( Table 1.1) 1-4. The male:female ratio is around 1.8:1
Figure 1.1 shows the age-specific cases and rates for stomach cancer in the UK. 1-4 Stomach cancer occurs mainly in older people. Less than 8% of cases are diagnosed before the age of 55 years and the rates increase steeply from age 60 onward reaching a rate of around 140 per 100,000 population in men aged 85 and over.
Most stomach cancers (around 95%) are adenocarcinomas which may be further classified into 'intestinal' and 'diffuse' type.
'Intestinal' adenocarcinomas are associated with a history of atrophic gastritis, have better survival and are associated with older patients, whereas the 'diffuse' adenocarcinomas are more common, with poorer survival and occur more frequently in women and people with blood group 'A'. 5
Other stomach malignant histologies include lymphomas and leiomyosarcomas.
In Britain the age-standardised incidence rates for males have more than halved from 31.0 per 100,000 in 1975 to 13.3 in 2006. The trend is similar for females. ( Figure 1.2) 1-3.
The stomach cancer incidence trend for the UK is shown in Figure 1.31-4.
In 2006 there were around 86,000 new cases of stomach cancer diagnosed in the European Union (EU). Within the EU there is a more than fourfold difference in incidence across countries. The highest incidence rates were in Lithuania for both males and females. The lowest stomach cancer incidence rates in the EU were in Denmark. Rates for the UK were below the EU average ( Figure 1.4) 6.
International incidence rates of stomach cancer vary widely. The highest rates of stomach cancer in the world occur in Eastern Asia (China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Korea and Mongolia) where the rate is 46 per 100,000 males and 21 per 100,000 females ( Figure 1.5). High rates also occur in Eastern Europe, Polynesia and South America - these are all above the world average of 22 and 10 per 100,000 males and females respectively. The lowest international incidence rates occur in Western and Northern Africa. 7
Incidence and mortality from stomach cancer are strongly related to social class and measures of deprivation, with higher rates in socially and economically deprived groups. 8
Using Carstairs deprivation scores (a score of material deprivation derived from four census variables - car ownership, household overcrowding, head of household in social class IV or V and male unemployment), the incidence and mortality rates in England and Wales are about twice as high in the most deprived groups compared to the least deprived. 9
A strong association with social deprivation is also reported for Scotland (Figure 1.6).
Despite an overall decline in incidence rates of stomach cancer, several countries, including England, Wales and Scotland, 10-11 have seen an increase in the incidence of adenocarcinomas of the gastric cardia, which is the region of the stomach that joins the lower oesophagus, sometimes referred to as proximal gastric cancer.
The rising rates of cancer in the gastric cardia in contrast to the falling rates elsewhere in the stomach are illustrated in Figure 1.7 using England data.
As the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the lower oesophagus is also increasing it has been suggested that tumours in the region of the gastro-oesophageal junction (GOJ) may share similar risk factors and should be treated as a separate entity. 12-13 Tumours of the lower oesophagus are particularly associated with a condition called Barrett’s oesophagus that may develop as a result of gastric reflux (see Oesophageal cancer.).
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References for stomach cancer incidence
- Office for National Statistics, Cancer Statistics registrations: Registrations of cancer diagnosed in 2006, England. Series MB1 no.37. 2009, National Statistics: London.
- Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, accessed 2009.
- ISD Scotland Online. 2009,Information and Statistics Division, NHS Scotland.
- Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Cancer Incidence and Mortality. 2009.
- Souhami R, Tobias J. Cancer and its management. Fifth Edition. Oxford: Blackwell Science Ltd. 2005
- J. Ferlay, P. Autier, M. Boniol, M. Heanue, M. Colombet, P. Boyle. Estimates of the cancer incidence and mortality in Europe in 2006
- IARC, GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide (2002 estimates). 2005
- Quinn M, W.H., Cooper N, Rowan S, Cancer Atlas of the United Kingdom and Ireland 1991-2000. 2005, National Statistics.
- Quinn, M., et al., Cancer Trends in England & Wales 1950-1999. Vol. SMPS No. 66. 2001: TSO.
- Powell J, M.C., The rising trend in oesophageal adenocarcinoma and gastric cardia. Eur J Cancer Prev, 1992. 1: p. 265-269
- Botterweck AA, S.L., Volovics A et al, Trends in incidence of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus and gastric cardia in ten European countries. In J Epidemiology, 2000. 29(4): p. 645-654
- Dolan K, S.R., Walker SJ et al, New classification of oesophageal and gastric carcinomas derived from changing patterns in epidemiology. British Journal of Cancer, 1999. 80: p. 834-842
- Wijnhoven BPL, S.P., Hop WCJ et al, Adenocarcinoma of the distal oesophagus and gastric cardia are one clinical entity. Br J Surg, 1999. 86: p. 529-535
- Ann Oncol. 2007 Mar;18(3):581-92.
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