9.1 Summary

Stomach cancer was the sixth most common cancer in Ireland, accounting for 2.7% of all malignant neoplasms, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, in women and 4.0% in men (Table 9.1). The average number of new cases diagnosed each year was 278 in women and 442 in men. During 1995-2007, the number of new cases diagnosed per annum remained fairly constant.

The risk of developing stomach cancer up to the age of 74 was 1 in 161 for women and 1 in 74 for men and was similar in NI and RoI for both men and women. At the end of 2008, 197 women and 323 men aged under 65, and 522 women and 773 men aged 65 and over, were alive up to 15 years after their stomach cancer diagnosis.

Table 9.1 Summary information for stomach cancer in Ireland, 1995-2007

 

Ireland

RoI

NI

 

females

males

females

males

females

males

% of all new cancer cases

2.0%

2.9%

1.9%

2.7%

2.1%

3.3%

% of all new cancer cases excluding non-melanoma skin cancer

2.7%

4.0%

2.6%

3.9%

2.8%

4.4%

average number of new cases per year

278

442

181

294

97

148

cumulative risk to age 74

0.6%

1.4%

0.6%

1.3%

0.6%

1.4%

15-year prevalence (1994-2008)

719

1096

476

746

243

350

More than 50% of all cases of stomach cancer were diagnosed at over 70 years of age—65% of women and 53% of men (Figure 9.1). Only 7% of cases were aged under 50 years at diagnosis. Patterns were similar for RoI and NI, but with a slightly older age at diagnosis in NI.

Figure 9.1 Age distribution of stomach cancer cases in Ireland, 1995-2007, by sex

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