Initial screening of gastric cancer using oral contrast-enhanced trans-abdominal ultrasonography in rural asymptomatic individuals

•Initial screening for high-risk population of gastric cancer (GC) is needed in rural areas of large-population countries.•This is a prospective study with ~15,000 asymptomatic residents from 24 rural villages in Changxing Island, Shanghai, China.•We evaluated the performance of oral contrast-enhanced trans-abdominal ultrasonography (OCTU) in screening high-risk GC.•OCTU could serve as an effective initial screening method of GC or supplement to the current risk stratification rule.