To investigate the characteristics and chronological changes of gastric cancer in Korea, the Information Committee of the Korean Gastric Cancer Association performed nationwide survey for 2004.

The data on patients who underwent gastric cancer surgery in 2004 were collected from 57 institutes and compared with those of 1995 and 1999 which were reported in 2002. Fourteen factors (sex, age, tumor location and size, gross type, approach to operation, radicality, operative method, reconstruction method, WHO and Lauren classification, UICC stage, and numbers of positive and retrieved lymph nodes) were analyzed. According to the annual number of gastric cancer operations, 57 institutes were divided into 4 groups (group 1, <100; 100 ≤ or = group 2 < 200 operations; 200 ≤ or = group 3 < 500 operations; group 4, ≥ or =500).

Data on 11,293 patients were collected. The sex ratio (M:F) was 2.05:1 (7,586/3,705). The mean age was 58.0 years old. The age of highest incidence in both male and female has increased recently. The proportion of early gastric cancer has increased from 28.6% in 1995 and 32.8% in 1999 to 47.4% in 2004. The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes was 34.0 (32.8, 34.0, 36.1, and 32.9 for group 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively).

Early gastric cancer has increased in 2004 compared to 1995 and 1999. Gastric cancer surgery seems to be performed with acceptable quality in view of number of retrieved lymph nodes. These data presented in nationwide survey could be used as a fundamental resource for gastric cancer in Korea.