Jiang JJ, Chen K, Weng T, Hong JM, Qin WY. Early screening and risk factors for gastric cancer. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(24): 119127 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i24.119127]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Wen-Yan Qin, Department of Gastroenterology, Ningbo Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, No. 998 North Qianhe Road, Yinzhou District, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. tinaqinwenyan@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Article-Type of This Article
review-article
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2026; 32(24): 119127 Published online Jun 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i24.119127
Early screening and risk factors for gastric cancer
Jiao-Jiao Jiang, Ke Chen, Tao Weng, Jie-Min Hong, Wen-Yan Qin
Jiao-Jiao Jiang, Ke Chen, Tao Weng, Jie-Min Hong, Wen-Yan Qin, Department of Gastroenterology, Ningbo Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Jie-Min Hong and Wen-Yan Qin.
Author contributions: Jiang JJ, Hong JM, and Qin WY designed the overall concept and outline of the manuscript; Jiang JJ and Qin WY contributed to the discussion and design of the manuscript; Jiang JJ, Chen K, Wen T, Hong JM, and Qin WY contributed to the writing and editing the manuscript, and review of literature; Hong JM and Qin WY contributed equally as co-corresponding authors. All authors reviewed and approved the final version.
Supported by “Innovation Yongjiang 2035” Key Research and Development Programme, No. 2025Z147.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Wen-Yan Qin, Department of Gastroenterology, Ningbo Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, No. 998 North Qianhe Road, Yinzhou District, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. tinaqinwenyan@126.com
Received: January 21, 2026 Revised: February 5, 2026 Accepted: March 10, 2026 Published online: June 28, 2026 Processing time: 140 Days and 6.5 Hours
Abstract
Gastric cancer (GC) has the highest incidence of digestive tract malignant tumors worldwide and ranks fifth in terms of cancer-related mortality and morbidity worldwide. Early diagnosis is the key to improving the prognosis of GC patients. The 5-year survival rate of patients with early GC can reach more than 90%, while 5-year survival rate during tumor progression is less than 30%. Therefore, promoting technological innovation and the application of early screening are highly important. In this article, the main risk factors for GC are systematically identified, among which Helicobacter pylori infection is the clearest core trigger. In addition, other risk factors include lifestyle factors such as a high-salt diet, processed meat intake, smoking and drinking, and genetic factors such as a family history of GC among first-degree relatives. Moreover, this article reviews the current mainstream GC screening methods, including serum biomarker detection, liquid biopsy, Helicobacter pylori detection, imaging examination and endoscopy, in detail and analyses the sensitivity, specificity, advantages and limitations of each method. This article aims to provide a reference for clinical practice and research directions for the early screening of GC.
Core Tip: This paper provides a systematic review of risk factors and screening methods for gastric cancer (GC). The review demonstrates that GC development results from the synergistic effects of multiple factors, with Helicobacter pylori infection being the most clearly established class I carcinogen. Gastroscopy remains the gold standard for GC screening. With the future advancement of liquid biopsy and endoscopic techniques, it is anticipated that the early detection rate of GC will significantly improve, mortality rates will decrease, patient prognosis will be enhanced, and the global burden of GC will be alleviated.
