[Gastric cancer in Lima]

Gastric cancer continues to be one of the most common malignant neoplasias in the world. Despite the decreasing incidence of this disease in developed countries, Eastern Europe and Latin America show the highest incidences. It accounted for 8.6% of all new cases of cancer in 2002. In Peru it has increased between 1990 and 1997 amounting to 24.3/100000 in men and 17.6/100000 in women, during the last period studied, thus it is considered a high risk area. Mortality: it is still the leading cause of death for both sexes, in men it is 19.3/100000 and in women 14.2/100000. Incidence is directly proportional to the place of origin in Metropolitan Lima, a city of almost 8 million inhabitants, and the districts with the highest incidences are Puente Piedra and Lince followed by Villa El Salvador, El Augustino, Breña and Rimac among others. These are districts with medium-low socioeconomic levels, whereas the lowest incidences are found in districts with high socioeconomic levels, such as San Isidro and Miraflores, among others.