Experience with 1,079 cases of cancer of the stomach seen in Korea from 1962 to 1968

Abstract

<h2>Summary</h2> In conclusion, this study shows that carcinoma of the stomach has a very high incidence when compared with other forms of cancer seen in a rural Korean mission hospital. The peak age for men is fifty-one years and for women forty-two years. Male to female ratio is three to one. There is a higher rate of stomach cancer among farmers than other segments of the population. Of 178 patients reported having hope of cure, 138 are living. Only seven have lived longer than five years. Ninety-one are living free of disease. Koreans with stomach cancer seem to ingest significantly larger amounts of soya bean paste than persons of the same age and sex without stomach cancer. The fact that Aspergillus flavus is found in soya bean cakes raises the possibility that aflatoxins produced by this mold which grows on the soya bean cakes (from which soya bean paste is made) may be a possible etiologic factor in the high incidence of stomach cancer seen in 1,079 patients with stomach cancer in a 130 bed hospital in the seven year period from 1962 through 1968 in Southwest Korea. Further investigation is necessary to delineate the role of molds as a factor in stomach cancer as observed in the Far East. Epidemiologic studies of the significance of the consumption of soya paste as a factor in the frequency of cancer of the stomach in Korea are being reported in another paper.