Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Interval Gastric Cancer in Korea

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Interval gastric cancer (IGC) is defined as cancer that is diagnosed between the time of screening and postscreening esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Unfortunately, little is known about the characteristics of IGC in Korea, a country with a high incidence of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathologic characteristics of IGCs in Korea. METHODS: From January 2006 to July 2011, a total of 81,762 subjects underwent screening EGD at Yonsei University Health Promotion Center, Seoul, Korea. We defined missed cancer as cancer diagnosed within 1 year of screening EGD and latent cancer as cancer diagnosed more than 1 year after EGD. RESULTS: A total of 16 IGC patients (17 lesions; three missed cancers and 14 latent cancers) were identified, with a mean age of 60.68 years and a mean interval time of 19.64 months. IGCs tended to be undifferentiated (12/17, 70.6%), located in the lower body of the stomach (12/17, 70.6%) and exhibited flat/depressed endoscopic morphology (11/17, 64.7%). The patients with missed cancer were generally younger than the patients with latent cancer (51.3 years vs 62.8 years, p=0.037), and the patients with undifferentiated cancer were significantly younger than those with differentiated cancer (57.0 years vs 68.8 years, p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: IGCs tended to be undifferentiated, located in the lower body of the stomach, and exhibited flat/depressed endoscopic morphology.