Current Perspectives on Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Synopsis Gastric Cancer (GC) is 3rd leading cause of cancer related death worldwide; only 28.3% of are expected to survive >5 years. Although GC incidence has declined in the US during the last decade, an increase in the incidence of GC has been estimated for 2016. GC risk factors include, male gender, having >60 years, infectious agents such as H. pylori, GC family history, certain occupations, tobacco use, and diet, among others. Prognosis of GC is largely dependent on the tumor stage at diagnosis and classification as intestinal or diffuse type, which has worse prognosis. Although promising chemoprevention agents have been reported to decrease GC risk, none have been implemented into clinical practice to date. Risk assessment and surveillance guidelines have been implemented in Asian countries with high incidence of GC, whereas in the US, only the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy has recently published guidelines for the screening and management gastric lesions. Importance of diagnosis of GC at an early stage is imperative since 5 year survival rates can approximate 90% in this setting.

SMURF1 promotes the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells

“…Gastric cancer (GC) represents one of the commonest human malignancies characterized by an adverse clinical outcome (1). Radical surgery may be the only hope for curing GC in the stage of precursor lesions (2). However, even after surgical resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy provide little benefit (3).…”

The novel long noncoding RNA RP11–357H14.17 acts as an oncogene by promoting cell proliferation and invasion in diffuse-type gastric cancer

“…Despite recent advances in surgical techniques and the medical treatment of DGC, the prognosis of patients with DGC remains relatively poor, in the absence of reliable early diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for the suppression of tumor metastasis 4–6. The 5-year survival rate remains low 7–9. DGC has poorer prognosis, and occurs more frequently in younger individuals with GC 10,11.…”

Past and current trends in endoscopic diagnosis for early stage gastric cancer in Japan

“…From a global perspective, there is significant geographical diversity in the incidence of EGC and the survival rate for gastric cancer. In the US, most gastric cancers are found as advanced disease, and the overall 5-year survival rate is less than 30 % [5]. Recently, a 15-year follow-up population-based cohort study performed in Japan revealed that gastric cancer mortality was reduced by 67 % by endoscopic screening compared with radiographic screening [6].…”