Gastric Carcinoma: A Review on Epidemiology, Current Surgical and Chemotherapeutic Options

Malignancies associated with the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract are reported to be ex‐ tremely lethal. Most patients with gastric cancer (GC) in the United States are symptomatic and already have complex untreatable disease at the time of presentation. GC in general, is a senile malignancy (cancer of the aged) and is reportedly twice as common in blacks as in whites. Routine screening is not extensively performed, except in countries, which have a very high incidence of GC, such as Japan, Venezuela, and Chile. The three most common primary malignant gastric neoplasms are adenocarcinoma (95%), lymphoma (4%), and ma‐ lignant GIST (Gastrointestinal stromal tumor)(1%). Fortunately, dedicated research into its pathogenesis and detection of new risk factors, treatment, and advanced endoscopic techni‐ ques have led to early diagnosis of GC in the modern era.