Stomach cancer, or gastric cancer occurs in various forms, the most common of which is a gastric carcinoma.

Gastric cancer is a common cancer of the digestive tract. It occurs most frequently in men over 40 years old, and the incidence is extremely high in Japan, Chile, and Iceland. Experts propose that the decreased prevalence of gastric cancer in the United States may be related to decreased intake of salted, cured and smoked foods, and the increase of Vitamin C intake. Often, diagnosis is delayed by the absence of symptoms in early disease or by self treatment of symptoms.

Risk factors for gastric cancer include: a family history of this type of cancer, Helicobacter pylori infection, blood type group A, history of pernicious anemia, history of chronic atrophic gastritis, condition of decreased gastric acid, history of adenomatous gastric polyp, and partial gastrectomy.

Approximately 7 out of 100,000 people in the United States develop gastric cancer.

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