Gastric cancer a challenge of all
Tumors are the leading cause of death in five regions of the country - Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Coquimbo, The Lagos and Aisén- in the rest of Chile cardiovascular diseases remain the first. Although these figures only represent five regions, you have to plant them in the context of the size of the population in each territory, reflecting a trend seen for several years in our country, that speaks of the increase in tumors, where they stand out in particular lung cancer, associated with smoking and environmental pollution, and colon cancer, related to diet and obesity. The third tumor that accounts for this increase is the gastric cancer, Unlike the aforementioned, remains as the leading cause of death by cancer in the Chilean population over 25 years. Gastric cancer is caused by the bacterium h. pylori infection, which is acquired very early, during childhood and persists in the stomach, causing chronic inflammation - chronic gastritis- throughout adult life. Although only a low proportion of those infected by h. pylori will develop gastric cancer, This disease is responsible for 25,4 deaths per 100 thousand people a year. This number means that 8 people a day die from gastric cancer in our country. These figures place us, For more than two decades, in the first place in Latin America and among the first in the world in mortality from this disease. Understanding what it means gastric cancer for Chile, the Center for advanced chronic diseases - ACCDiS (Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases)- He is committed to the development of solutions to reduce these high mortality rates. To do this, is carrying out research projects focused to identify the 1 to 3% of persons infected with H.pylori which will have gastric cancer, In addition to identifying markers in blood that allow select individuals from higher risk for developing the disease. Along with this, ACCDiS participates in initiatives public / private-oriented campaigns of endoscopy to address waiting lists. Our purpose, along with helping to solve a demand for health care, It is accelerating the investigation of the molecular mechanisms of infection by h. pylori and define the best combination of markers for the selection of endoscopy. ACCDiS , as Center of excellence in national research with funding from the National Commission for scientific and technological research (CONICYT) and with the sponsored by the two most important universities in the country, University of Chile (U.Chile) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). For the researchers Andrew Quest (U.Chile) and Alejandro Corvalan (PUC), responsible for leading these projects, ACCDiS commitment, CONICYT, U.Chile and PUC is not enough, It is also necessary to have the support of the public system and the private initiative for which in addition to investigate, is to encourage the transfer of technology required to reduce the leading cause of death by cancer in Chile.
Alejandro Corvalan
Researcher main ACCDIS