Taiwan’s new stomach cancer screening programme reaches 600,000 people

Taiwan’s new publicly funded stomach cancer prevention programme screened 600,000 people by the end of July, seven months after launching. Offered to adults aged 45 to 74, it adds a Helicobacter pylori test to existing colorectal cancer stool screening. The infection is treatable but strongly linked to stomach cancer. Of those screened, 22.4% tested positive.

The rollout builds on more than 20 years of local research, from high-risk communities to a 10-year clinical trial. That trial showed one stool sample could support both faecal occult blood and H. pylori antigen tests. Thirty-year modelling estimated that adding the bacterial test could cut stomach cancer mortality by 14% compared with colorectal screening alone and save about US$8 per person. Researchers calculated roughly five units of prevention value for every unit spent.

The evidence also helped shape international guidance through an International Agency for Research on Cancer working group involving 35 experts from 20 countries. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it addresses testing, treatment, antibiotic stewardship and quality monitoring. The cost-effectiveness work appeared in JAMA, while countries including Bhutan and others in Europe and South America are considering similar programmes.