title: Gastric cancer.
abstract: Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Many patients have inoperable disease at diagnosis or have recurrent disease after resection with curative intent. Gastric cancer is separated anatomically into true gastric adenocarcinomas and gastro-oesophageal-junction adenocarcinomas, and histologically into diffuse and intestinal types. Gastric cancer should be treated by teams of experts from different disciplines. Surgery is the only curative treatment. For locally advanced disease, adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy is usually implemented in combination with surgery. In metastatic disease, outcomes are poor, with median survival being around 1 year. Targeted therapies, such as trastuzumab, an antibody against HER2 (also known as ERBB2), and the VEGFR-2 antibody ramucirumab, have been introduced. In this Seminar, we present an update of the causes, classification, diagnosis, and treatment of gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology/Digestive Oncology, University Hospitals Gasthuisberg Leuven and KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: Eric.VanCutsem@uzleuven.be.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Cutsem
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University Hospitals Gasthuisberg Leuven and KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sagaert
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospitals Gasthuisberg Leuven and KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Baki
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Topal
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospitals Gasthuisberg Leuven and KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Haustermans
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology/Digestive Oncology, University Hospitals Gasthuisberg Leuven and KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Prenen
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004943:Esophagogastric Junction; D006801:Humans; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000068878:Trastuzumab / Q000627:therapeutic use; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D000096662:Ramucirumab
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D000068878:Trastuzumab; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2; D000096662:Ramucirumab; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human