Trends in gastric cancer sex ratio in the United States.

Recent reports have suggested that the male/female ratio for gastric cancer has decreased over time and that the mean age of cases has increased. The authors calculated age- and sex-specific mortality rates for gastric cancer from 1950 through 1979 for whites using data from US Vital Statistics and population estimates from the US Census Bureau. Whereas sex ratios based on crude mortality rates showed a decrease over time from 1.7 in 1950 to 1.5 in 1979, similar ratios based on age-adjusted mortality rates showed an increase from 1.8 to 2.1. An increase in mean age at death over time was consistent with the increase in age of the population. The authors conclude that factors responsible for the decrease in gastric cancer mortality in the United States appear to have affected males and females equally. The overall data do not support the emergence of a new form of gastric cancer with a sex ratio or age pattern different from that found in the past.