Stomach cancer rates declining

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-05 09:40

Some good news on some cancers: During the last decade, deaths from stomach cancer have declined in most areas of the world, according to a new study.

While such cancers are rare in North America and much of Europe, they tend to be quite common in Japan, Russia, and parts of Latin America, and account for more than 10 percent of cancer deaths worldwide. Its aggressiveness makes it one of the deadlier cancers.

However, in the last 10 years, deaths from stomach cancer declined by about 3 to 4 percent per year in the European Union, Australia, the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation, report Dr Liliane Chatenoud, at Istituto di Ricerche Farmocologiche "Mario Negri" in Milan, Italy, and colleagues.

Mortality similarly declined by about 2 percent per year in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia, Chatenoud and colleagues report in the International Journal of Cancer.