Secular decreasing trends in gastric cancer incidence in Taiwan:A population-based cancer registry study

BACKGROUND Gastric cancer remains a leading cause of cancer death worldwide.In Taiwan,gastric cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer mortality in both males and females.AIM To evaluate secular trends in gastric cancer incidence according to age,sex,and Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)treatment in Taiwan.METHODS In this population-based study,we used the national Taiwan Cancer Registry database.Annual percent changes in incidence rates were used to describe secular trends in incidence rates and sex ratios of gastric cancer in Taiwan.Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficients were used to analyze the correlation between annual age-adjusted incidence rates and the annual number of patients treated with antibiotic therapy for H.pylori infection.RESULTS The annual percent changes showed continuously decreasing rates of gastric cancer among both males and females.However,the decreasing trends differed by sex,with an annual percent change of-2.58%in males and-2.14%in females.The age-specific incidence rates increased with age.Within the same age group,more recent time periods showed lower incidence rates than greater time periods.Similarly,the sex ratio was lower in later birth cohorts than in earlier birth cohorts.Age-adjusted incidence rates substantially decreased with increasing numbers of patients being treated with antibiotic therapy for H.pylori infection during 2005 to 2016(r=0.72).CONCLUSION We observed steadily decreasing trends with differential sex ratios in the incidence of gastric cancer in Taiwan.These results support H.pylori eradication programs in Taiwan.

Secular trends of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in a high endemic area:A population-based study

BACKGROUND Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma(ICC)is one of the most aggressive malignancies.However,because of its scarcity there are limited population-based data available for investigations into its epidemiologic characteristics.In Taiwan,we have a national cancer registry database that can be used to evaluate the secular trends of ICC.AIM To evaluate secular trends of ICC according to age,sex,and risk factors in Taiwan.METHODS In this population-based study,we used the national Taiwan Cancer Registry database.Age-standardized and relative percent changes in incidence rates were used to describe secular trends in incidence rates and sex ratios of ICC in Taiwan.RESULTS The age-standardized ICC incidence rate among males increased from 1.51 per 100000 in 1993-1997 to 4.07 per 100000 in 2013-2017 and among female from 1.73 per 100000 to 2.95 per 100000.The incidence in females tended to plateau after 2008-2012.For males,the ICC incidence increased as age increased.In the long-term incidence trend of ICC in females,the incidence of the four age groups(40-44,45-49,50-54 and 55-59 years)remained stable in different years;although,the incidence of the 60-64 group had a peak in 2003-2007,and the peak incidence of the 65-69 and 70-74 groups occurred in 2008-2012.Among males,beginning at the age of 65,there were increases in the incidence of ICC for the period of 2003-2017 as compared with females in the period of 2003-2017.CONCLUSION Increased incidence of ICC occurred in Taiwan over the past two decades.The increased incidence has progressively shifted toward younger people for both males and females.