This report is biased on 1,139 patients with gastric cancer (GC) detected by mass screening conducted by the Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka during 1961-1985. Early GC totalled 527 patients and advanced GC totalled 6121 patients. In 859 patients curative resection was performed. Their vital status was traced yearly and six patients were lost to follow-up. Relative survival rates of screening-detected GC patients were 69-70% and almost constant after 5 years from operation/diagnosis. The survival curve in which only death from GC was counted as a death was almost equal to the relative survival curve in its shape and value. The hazard rates of screening detected GC patients decreased rapidly within 7 years and remained low affter 7 years. It was confirmed by this long-term follow-up study that about two thirds of GC patients detected by screening were successfully cured of their disease. Cancer 63:613-617, 1989.
N JAPAN mass screening for stomach cancer has been I carried out for over 25 years mainly with photofluorographic radiography, and 5.2 million people were examined in 1985. The main purpose of this screening is to detect as many curable gastric cancers (GC) as possible in the asymptomatic phase:, and to reduce the number of deaths from GC. In order to evaluate this screening program, it is necessary to follow up the detected GC patients for a long period and to know their prognosis.
At the Department of Mass Examination for Stomach Cancer in the Center for .4dult Diseases, Osaka, yearly followup surveys on all screening-detected patients have been carried out and the causes of death have been investigated for dead patients. Based on the results of this survey we calculated the survival rate of GC for a 15-year period, and analyzed the causes of death by years froh operation/diagnosis.