"Choose Endoscopy Over X-ray": National Stomach Cancer Screening Guidelines Revised After 10 Years

The National Cancer Center has released the 2025 National Stomach Cancer Screening Guidelines, which recommend gastric endoscopy as the sole primary screening method.

The guidelines were developed by the National Cancer Center in collaboration with seven professional medical societies, including the Korean Academy of Family Medicine and the Korean Association of Internal Medicine, based on the latest research findings.

This marks the first revision of the national stomach cancer screening guidelines in 10 years, since 2015.

Unlike the previous guidelines, which prioritized gastric endoscopy while considering upper gastrointestinal (GI) series (X-ray) as an alternative, the revised version recommends only gastric endoscopy as the primary screening method.

This change follows findings that gastric endoscopy is more effective in preventing deaths from stomach cancer and offers higher diagnostic accuracy than the upper GI series.

According to the guidelines, the upper GI series should only be considered for use in special circumstances where a patient is unable to undergo a gastric endoscopy.

(Photo courtesy of National Cancer Center, Yonhap News)
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