LAUSR

of Merchant et al. is due to the different populations investigated in the two studies. The SEER 18 dataset includes data from a considerably larger US population than the SEER 13 dataset does. Therefore, our results are more likely to accurately reflect the recent trend in gastric cancer incidence, and the conclusions of Merchant et al. should be approached with caution. Further studies should be performed to validate the increasing trend in the rate of gastric cancer in the Hispanic population.