Background: The aim of this study was to provide an update of the recent incidence trends of cardia and non-cardia gastric adenocarcinoma in Sweden.
Methods: Temporal trends in the age-standardised incidence were assessed separately for cardia and non-cardia gastric adenocarcinoma in 1970-2014 among all people in Sweden aged ≥50 years. Data were retrieved from the Swedish Cancer Registry. The log-linear joinpoint regression method was used to identify change points in the incidence trends. The annual percent changes with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for each segment before and after change points.
Results: The overall incidence of cardia adenocarcinoma increased during the earlier period of 1970-1988, but was stable during the later period of 1989-2014 (annual percent change: -0.3%, 95% CI: -0.7 to 0.2%). In contrast, in women aged 50-69 years the incidence of cardia adenocarcinoma increased by 6.6% annually (95% CI: 1.9 to 11.5%) during the period 2005 to 2014. The incidence of non-cardia gastric adenocarcinoma decreased by 4.4% per year (95% CI: -4.6 to -4.2%) in 1984-2014 and the decrease was stronger in men aged 70 years or older compared to other groups.
Conclusion: The incidence of cardia adenocarcinoma is seemingly rapidly increasing in younger women, while it has been stable in other groups during recent years in Sweden. The incidence of non-cardia gastric adenocarcinoma continues to decrease, particularly in older men.