title: The role of laparoscopic surgery in gastric cancer.
abstract: The laparoscopic surgery in gastric cancer is applied with increasing frequency nowadays; noticeable reports come mainly from Korea and Japan with satisfactory results. This review presents briefly the issue by evaluating its role. A PubMed search of relevant articles published up to 2010 was performed to identify current information. Most data come from Far East, where gastric cancer occurs more often, and the proportion of early gastric cancer is high. Laparoscopic approach includes both the diagnostic laparoscopy and laparoscopic resection. Laparoscopic gastrectomy has currently limited application for gastric cancer in the West; it is not widely accepted and raises important considerations necessitating the planning of multicentre randomised control trials based mainly on the long-term results.
authors.affiliation: Second Propedeutical Department of Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippocration Hospital, Konstantinoupoleos 49, 546 42 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Theodoros E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Pavlidis
authors.forename: Efstathios T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Pavlidis
authors.forename: Athanasios K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sakantamis