[High-risk population of gastric cancer patients]

Atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia cannot be regarded as a form of precancerous change, but it is of profound significance in the development of gastric carcinoma. It would be reasonable to infer that those subjects who have atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia to any great extent represent a high-risk population for gastric cancer. Environmental factors, especially dietary habits, are implicated in the etiology of gastric carcinoma. Intake of high concentrations of sodium chloride is assumed to promote the development of carcinoma of the stomach. Cigarette smoking is also one of the risk factors in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer, supposedly acting as an initiator in gastric tumorigenesis. Although a controversy exists as to whether gastric resection for benign ulcers enhances the subsequent development of gastric carcinoma, it appears likely that an increased amount of long-term duodenogastric reflux after partial gastrectomy results in a higher incidence of carcinoma in the stomach remnant.