| [ Summary ] |
The aim of this study was to clarify the usefulness of serum pepsinogens (PG) and anti-H.pylori (Hp) anti bodies as a screening method for gastric cancer in comparison with gastric endoscopic findings 3,851 people were recruited from the health-screening center. All subjects underwent endoscopy, and serum was obtained for PG levels and anti-Hp antibodies. We defined those patients as positive for PG as those who had levels of PG I lower than 70ng/ml and a PG I/II ratio of less than 3.0. We categorized subjects according to their PG and anti-Hp antibody levels, creating 3 groups. Group A: those negative for anti-Hp antibodies and PG method, Group B: those positive for anti-Hp antibodies and negative for PG method, Group C: those positive for PG method. Twenty-seven gastric cancers were diagnosed endoscopically. In group C (967 cases), we found 23 cases of gastric cancer (2.38%). However, we found only 3 cases of gastric cancer (0.17%) in group B (1,755 cases) and no gastric cancer (0%) in group A (823 cases). Five gastric adenomas were all in group C and hyperplastic polyps were found most frequently in group C. These results suggest that subjects in group C constitute a high-risk group for gastric cancers and that subjects in group A constitute a very low-risk group for gastric cancer. Therefore, it seems that the PG method and anti-Hp antibody measurments are useful for gastric cancer screening. |