Stomach Cancer in Latin America & Caribbean
Death rates for Stomach Cancer across 42 countries in Latin America & Caribbean.
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Stomach (gastric) cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide, causing approximately 770,000 deaths annually. The dominant risk factor is chronic Helicobacter pylori infection, which causes chronic gastritis progressing through atrophy and intestinal metaplasia to carcinoma. East Asia — particularly China, Japan, and South Korea — has the highest incidence, along with parts of Eastern Europe and Latin America. Dietary factors including high salt intake, smoked and preserved foods, and low fruit and vegetable consumption increase risk. Smoking and alcohol are additional risk factors. Gastric cancer incidence has declined markedly over the past century in many countries, attributed to improved food preservation (refrigeration), declining H. pylori prevalence, and dietary changes. However, it remains highly lethal: five-year survival is approximately 30% globally, as most cases present at advanced stages outside countries with screening programmes. Latin America and the Caribbean have made substantial gains in life expectancy over recent decades, but face growing non-communicable disease burdens, persistent health inequalities, and pockets of high violence-related mortality. In Latin America & Caribbean, stomach cancer mortality is broadly consistent with global patterns, though wide disparities exist between upper-middle-income countries and lower-income Caribbean and Central American nations.
H. pylori eradication with antibiotic therapy reduces gastric cancer risk by 30-40%. Population-based screening with endoscopy (practised in Japan and South Korea) detects early-stage disease with dramatically improved survival. Reducing salt intake, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, and smoking cessation are evidence-based risk reduction strategies. H. pylori test-and-treat strategies in high-prevalence populations show promise for large-scale prevention. Research into H. pylori vaccines continues.
The mortality estimates presented on this page are derived from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, produced by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The GBD synthesizes data from vital registration systems, verbal autopsies, cancer registries, and surveillance networks across more than 200 countries and territories. Death rates are expressed per 100,000 population and are age-standardized, which adjusts for differences in age structure between populations so that comparisons across countries and over time reflect genuine differences in mortality risk rather than demographic composition.
The dataset typically covers the period from 1990 to 2023, although availability varies by country and cause. When interpreting the figures for stomach cancer in Latin America & Caribbean, note that higher age-standardized rates indicate a greater mortality burden independent of whether a country's population is older or younger. Trends over time reveal whether public health interventions, economic development, and health system improvements have reduced or increased the toll of this condition in the region.
Cancer mortality data combine information from population-based cancer registries, vital registration systems, and statistical modeling where direct data are sparse. Incidence-to-mortality ratios and survival estimates help distinguish regions where high death rates stem from high incidence versus those where limited access to early detection and treatment drives poor outcomes. For stomach cancer across Latin America & Caribbean, comparing mortality rates alongside screening coverage and treatment availability provides crucial context for understanding regional disparities.