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Objectives: The public does not always understand key information conveyed by epidemiologists and statisticians. The purpose of this study was to understand the level of public access to, trust in, and comprehension of, cancer statistics through a population-based survey in Japan., Methods: We used an online research method, requesting online responses to a 15-question questionnaire. The survey was sent to males and females aged 20 years and older, selected by sex, age and prefecture to match the national population proportions shown in the latest census. The final number of valid responses was 10 477. The statistical analyses mainly used χ2 testing., Results: Respondents were not frequently exposed to cancer statistics regardless of sex or age group, nor did they necessarily have confidence in the statistics. The increase of collected information and trust in cancer statistics was aligned with increasing age and cancer exposure. Respondents found Relative Risk and Relative Survival Rate easier to understand and more useful than the Standardized Incidence Ratio. In addition, those with cancer experience, higher income and were elderly gave more accurate responses when asked questions related to cancer incidence and probability of getting cancer., Conclusions: Our respondents showed limited familiarity with cancer statistical indicators. Enhanced awareness of indicators such as infographics and visual tools has the potential to enhance cancer visibility, thereby promoting public prevention and early detection efforts. Educating cancer patients about pertinent indicators can boost their confidence in managing their condition. Conversely, the introduction of indicators unrelated to the public should be discouraged., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: To estimate cumulative incidence and mortality risk for gastric cancer by risk category., Methods: Risk was classified into four types according to the presence/absence of Helicobacter pylori infection and chronic atrophic gastritis: in order of lowest to highest risk, Group A: H. pylori(-) and atrophic gastritis(-); Group B: H. pylori(+) and atrophic gastritis(-); Group C:H. pylori(+) and atrophic gastritis(+); and, Group D: H. pylori(-) and atrophic gastritis(+). We used vital statistics for the crude all-cause and crude gastric cancer mortality rates in 2011 and data from population-based cancer registries (the Monitoring of Cancer Incidence in Japan) for gastric cancer incidence in 2011. For relative risk and prevalence, we used the results of a meta-analysis integrating previous studies and data from the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study for the Next Generation, respectively (baseline survey 2011-16). We calculated the crude incidence and mortality rates and estimated the cumulative risk using a life-table method., Results: The estimated lifetime cumulative incidence risk was 11.4% for men and 5.7% for women. The estimated risk for Groups A, B, C and D was 2.4%, 10.8%, 26.7% and 35.5% for men, and 1.2%, 5.5%, 13.5% and 18.0% for women, respectively. Similarly, the estimated lifetime cumulative mortality risk was 3.9% for men and 1.8% for women. The estimated risk of mortality for Groups A, B, C and D was 0.8%, 3.6%, 9.0% and 12.0% for men, and 0.4%, 1.7%, 4.2% and 5.7% for women, respectively., Conclusions: Our results may be useful for designing individually tailored prevention programs., (© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.)