Gastric cancer in the Arab World: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide, characterized by multifactorial pathogenesis and a heterogeneous geographic distribution. The complexity of this malignancy has evolved, with environmental and genetic factors and treatment strategies being more studied. Aims: We aimed to group and organize the clinicopathological and epidemiological features of GC in the Arab World and compare with data from Western countries. Methods: To obtain the highest number of topic-related articles, an extensive electronic search was conducted in the PubMed MEDLINE and Cochrane databases up to March 2022 using Boolean operators with a combination of keywords and MeSH terms. A total of 42 articles were retained after screening in accordance with the objectives of the study. The estimated age-standardized incidence rates in the Arab World were collected from the GLOBOCAN 2020 database. Results: A total of 46 articles were retrieved from 11 countries in the Arab World. Epidemiological elements were collected, especially tumour attributes, risk factors and population characteristics, in addition to some therapeutic strategies. Results were regrouped by theme and then organized in tables and charts, allowing a global and regional approach to the subject. Conclusion: This review shows that the Arab World is considered a low-rate GC incidence region, presenting almost the same tumour characteristics as the Western countries. The lack of GC data in the Arab World should trigger a rise in research on this type of malignancy to better understand the subject.