Incidence rate of adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia, and endoscopic classification of early cardial carcinoma in Henan Province, the People's Republic of China.

Mass surveys of 29,235 people in high-risk areas for esophageal carcinoma have been carried out, and 21,721 cases examined by gastroscopy were collected from 13 hospitals in high- and low-risk areas for esophageal carcinoma in Henan Province. During the mass surveys, it was found that the incidence rate of adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia (AGC) was 0.19%, and the ratio of esophageal carcinoma (EC) to ACG was 3.28:1. The prevalence rate of AGC was 5.12% in the 8 hospitals in the high-risk areas for EC, in contrast to 3.57% (P less than 0.01) in the group in low-risk regions, showing that the incidence rate of AGC was also high in the populations living in the high-risk areas for EC. Most gastric cancers detected in both the high- and low-risk areas for EC have a predominantly proximal location, most being located in the gastric cardia. The endoscopic findings of 79 cases with early adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia (EAGC) are described. It is suggested that EAGC could be divided into four types - congestive type, erosive type, plaque-like type and polypoid type.