Gastric cancer – clinical and epidemiological aspects

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) ranks fifth for cancer incidence and second for cancer deaths. Epidemiological data showed that survivors of Hodgkin's lymphoma and patients with pernicious anemia etiologically linked to autoimmune gastritis are at increased risk of GC. Screening of patients with autoimmune thyroid disease by means of pepsinogen (PG) I and PG I/II detected autoimmune gastritis with oxyntic gastric atrophy in one of four patients and may be recommended for GC prevention purposes. The International Agency for Research on Cancer reported a positive association between consumption of processed meet and increased GC risk. A new GC risk prediction model based on biological markers, age, gender, smoking status, family history of GC, and consumption of highly salted food showed good predictive performance, and might prompt individuals to modify their lifestyle habits, attend regular check-up visits or participate in screening programs. A novel GC classification based on gene expression of primary resected cancers correlated with clinicopathological features. Noncoding RNA for GC screening remains the focus of multiple studies. Patients with early GC undergoing endoscopic resection are more likely to develop metachronous lesions than patients undergoing surgery and endoscopic surveillance is warranted in this special cohort. The addition of gastrectomy to chemotherapy did not improve survival of patients with advanced GC and a single noncurable factor. Apatinib, a novel oral vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, improved the median overall survival of patients with advanced GC and progressive disease after two or more lines of prior chemotherapy of nearly 3 months.

Serum IL-33 level is a predictor of progression-free survival after chemotherapy

“…In large-scale studies, the factors such as stage, metastasis are found to be related to disease progression [25]. While in the current study the relationship was not found, possibly due to the limited sample size.…”

Derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and monocyte to lymphocyte ratio may be better biomarkers for predicting overall survival of patients with advanced gastric cancer

“…Gastric cancer (GC) is a very common malignant tumor throughout the world, and it leads to cancer-related mortality rates that are higher than those of many other tumors 1. Although efforts toward early diagnoses and treatment for GC have made great progress, and we can frequently perform radical surgery for GC, the prognoses for patients with advanced GC are still very poor, and their 5-year survival rate remains in an unsatisfactory range of 10%–15% 2.…”

Eradication Rates in Italian Subjects Heterogeneously Managed for Helicobacter pylori Infection. Time to Abandon Empiric Treatments in Southern Europe

“…The treatment of H. pylori infection is a matter of debate because of several implications arising from the prevalence of the disease, the presence of symptoms, the potential evolution toward atrophic gastritis, metaplasia, gastric cancer and mucosa-associated MALT lymphoma. Current guidelines suggest eradication of H. pylori in all diagnosed subjects [1], as this infectious agent is included in the list of IARC group I carcinogens [2][3][4].…”