Performance of the National Cancer Screening Program for Gastric Cancer in Korea

In Korea, the National Cancer Screening Program for Gastric Cancer (NCSP-GC) was implemented in 1999 to reduce the mortality associated with gastric cancer, the most common cancer in Korea until 2018. In 2021, approximately 7.76 million screening endoscopies were performed as part of the NCSP-GC, including 10664 participants (37.2% of the total gastric cancer cases in 2021; 10909 of the 29361 cases) with histologically confirmed gastric cancer, according to data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service. The endoscopic screening component of the NCSP-GC has contributed to the early detection of gastric cancer and the reduction of its mortality. This review evaluates the performance and limitations of the endoscopic screening component of the NCSP-GC and discusses strategies to overcome limitations.