Despite declining incidence rates, gastric cancer (GC) ranks the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality and the fifth most common cancer worldwide, with the highest incidence reported in Eastern Asia. The 5-year overall survival rate of early GC exceeds 90%, which was well above advanced GC. Most intestinal-type GCs follow the Correa cascade-inflammation,atrophy, intestinal metaplasia (IM), dysplasia and subsequent carcinoma. The presence of gastric mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia are important risk factors for GC. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of GC attributed to atrophic gastritis in a region with high incidence of GC.