ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the prevalence of esophageal and gastric cardia cancer and various precancerous lesions in high-risk rural areas.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Random cluster sampling method was used to select people aged 40-69 years of some natural villages as screening objects in Feicheng, Shangdong province, from 2006 to 2012. The screening program was conducted by endoscopy with iodine staining and indicative biopsy followed by pathological examination.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 24 759 subjects were screened during 2006-2012 years. The positive detection rates of esophagus and gastric cardia cancers were 1.37% and 0.42%, respectively, the early diagnosis rates were 84.71% and 65.05%, and the treatment rates were 92.65% and 92.23%, respectively. The detection rates of all lesions in males were significantly higher than those in females (P < 0.05), and were gradually increased with age (P < 0.05). The time trend analysis showed that detection rates of all lesions in the two sites showed no significant changes during this period, and the detection rates of esophageal lesions were higher than those of gastric cardia.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>There are considerable numbers of patients with precancerous lesions in the general population from the high risk areas. Men and the elderly are the key populations calling for cancer control programs. Endoscopy using iodine staining is an effective method to increase the detection rate of precancerous lesions and cancers. The root of mucosal fold in gastric cardia must be carefully observed so as to increase the detection rate of early gastric cardia lesions.</p>