Unlocking the Power of EMR Data for Earlier Gastric Cancer Diagnosis and Risk Prediction
By Léon Van Wouwe, Clinical Innovation Director, Volv Global Gastric (stomach) cancer remains a formidable global health challenge, ranking as the fifth most common cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. [1] Alarmingly, its incidence is rising in patients under 50 years old, alongside other gastrointestinal malignancies. In 2022 alone, nearly one million new cases were diagnosed, leading to approximately 660,000 deaths worldwide. One particularly aggressive form, gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer, spans the critical connection between the esophagus and the stomach, further complicating detection and treatment. As with all cancers, early diagnosis is critical for optimizing treatment outcomes. Yet, gastric cancer often remains undetected until later stages, limiting therapeutic options and survival rates. Could primary care electronic medical records (EMR) data hold the key to shifting this paradigm? The Power of EMR Data in Earlier Cancer Detection Our recent research on gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NETs), a rare type of gut cancer, demonstrates how EMR-driven analytics can uncover hidden diagnostic delays. Leveraging UK primary care data, we identified that undiagnosed patients are, on average, 5 to 7 years younger than those already diagnosed—highlighting a significant opportunity to intervene earlier. [2] Addressing Gastric Cancer Recurrence and Outcome Prediction For gastric cancer, the stakes are even higher. Despite curative surgery and neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemotherapy, recurrence is common. One in four patients experiences disease recurrence within a year post-surgery, and survival beyond two years remains a challenge. The five-year survival rate remains dismally low, with fewer than half of patients alive at this milestone. [3, 4, 5] Beyond early detection, advanced risk prediction models leveraging EMR data could refine patient stratification and enhance personalized treatment decisions. By integrating EMR-driven insights, we can better predict recurrence risk and tailor therapeutic regimens accordingly. Notably, Imfinzi-based regimens have already demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in event-free survival for resectable early-stage gastric and GEJ cancers, underscoring the potential of precision medicine approaches. [6] A Call to Action: Innovating in Gastric Cancer Drug Development The integration of EMR data into drug development and commercialization strategies presents an immense opportunity to revolutionize gastric cancer management. Pharmaceutical innovators and executives, are you ready to explore how real-world data can drive earlier diagnosis, improve risk modelling, and ultimately enhance patient outcomes? Let’s connect to discuss how advanced analytics and AI-driven EMR insights can shape the future of gastric cancer therapeutics. Looking forward to your thoughts in the comments or via direct conversation. This article was originally published on LinkedIn: Unlocking the Power of EMR Data for Earlier Gastric Cancer Diagnosis and Risk Prediction About the author Léon van Wouwe has 20+ years’ global experience in clinical development and operations, uniting data science with pharma and research. He drives cross-functional collaboration to advance innovative treatments. References World Health Organization . International Agency for Research on Cancer. Stomach Fact Sheet. Available at: https://gco.iarc.who.int/media/globocan/factsheets/cancers/7-stomach-fact-sheet.pdf. Accessed March 2025. Volv Global SA , project results. For information contact www.volv.global Li Y, et al. Postoperative recurrence of gastric cancer depends on whether the chemotherapy cycle was more than 9 cycles. Medicine. 2022;101(5):e28620. Ilic M, Ilic I. Epidemiology of stomach cancer. World J Gastroenterol. 2022;28(12):1187-1203. Al-Batran SE, et al. Perioperative chemotherapy with fluorouracil plus leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel versus fluorouracil or capecitabine plus cisplatin and epirubicin for locally advanced, resectable gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (FLOT4): a randomised, phase 2/3 trial. Lancet. 2019;393(10184):1948-1957. AstraZeneca : Imfinzi-based regimen demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in event-free survival in resectable early-stage gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers Header photo by mohamad azaam on Unsplash