ByMao Xinhui

    Therisksofhavinggastriccancercanbedetectedwithonly2millilitersofvenousbloodatYangpuHospitalaffiliatedtoTongjiUniver⁃sitywhichhasimportedtheinte⁃rnationallyadvancedtechnologytotestgastricfunctionswithserum.Italso means that gastric cancerscreeningisspreadingtohospitalsofalllevelsasanitemofregularphysicaltests.

    Comparedwithconventionalgastrotoxin,gastricfunctiontestwithserumismini-traumatic,safe,economicandconvenient, moreapplicabletoearly-phasesscreen⁃ing.Withonly2millilitersofvenousbloodofthetestee,risksofgastriccarcinomalesioncanbedetected.

    Expertssaidthistesthelpstodetectandtreatgastriccancerasearlyaspossible.Theprognosisanddiagnosistimingofgastriccancerarecloselyconnected.Morethan90%ofearlygastriccancerpatientswillsurviveforfiveyearswhilelessthan30%ofintermediateandlategastriccancerpatientswillsurviveforfiveyearseveniftheyreceivecomprehensivetreatmentincludingsurgery.Atpresent,gastriccancerinChinaisonlydiagnosedwithgas⁃troscope. However,patientscanhardlytoleratetheafflictivegastro⁃scopetest,whichmeansthatthetestcannotbecarriedouttohugepopulation.Peopleonlycometobetestedwhensymptomsshowupand95%ofthepatientsarealreadyatintermediateandlatephasesofgastriccancer.Patientshavethuslostthebesttreatmenttimingandhavetoundertakethetremendouseconomicburden.

    AccordingtoLiLi,Deanofthe

    DepartmentofGastroenterologyinYangpuHospital,serumtestwillcheckfourindexesincludingpep⁃sinogenandgastrin17.Iftheresultis positive, gastroscope testisneededasafurthersteptofindoutsuspiciouslesionforpathologicalexaminationbeforethediagnosisismade.Serumtestplusgastroscopetesthasbecomeapopularwayofdetectingearlygastriccancerinmanycountries.However,serumtestcannotdetectgastriccancerwith100%accuracy.Itsaccuracyisaround70%.

    Chinahasveryhighincidencesofgastriccancer.About400,000patientsofgastriccancerarenewlydetectedinChinaeveryyearwhile350,000patientswilldiefromthisdisease,accountingforabout40%ofnewoccurrenceandfatalityglobal⁃ly.However,thereisnoanearlygastriccancerscreeningmechanisminplaceinChina.Fortunately,a⁃nationallevelearlygastriccancerscreening collaboration networkwaskickedoffatYangpuHospitalaffiliatedtoTongjiUniversityintheendoflastyear,aimingtoexploreawidespreadscreeningmechanismandimproveearlygastriccancertreatmentratio.Morethan200hos⁃pitalsinthecountryhavejoinedinthenetworksofar.

    Therearemanycausativefac⁃torsforgastriccancer.Kindredhe⁃redity,gastriculcers,gastriccanceroperationhistoryandinfectionwithHelicobacterpyloriareallhigh-riskfactors.Therefore,LiLisuggeststhathigh-riskpeopleshouldreceivese⁃rumtestonceayearsoastodetectproblemsasearlyaspossible.PeopleinneedcanregisterintheDepart⁃ment of Gastroenterology forscreeningwhichtakesaboutRMB200.