Chronicles of a cancer foretold: 35 years of gastric cancer risk assessment

In 1980, an international group of pathologists and clinicians led by Basil Morson published a critical review entitled Precancerous Conditions and Epithelial Dysplasia in the Stomach. 1 This seminal article attempted to merge Eastern and Western pathological experiences in the evaluation of preneoplastic conditions into a systematic approach to the evaluation of gastric precancerous conditions. Thirty-five years after its publication, we pay homage to Professor Morson's team by revisiting their positions in light of the dramatic advances of our understanding of gastric disease that have occurred during this time. To this end, we have selected from the original article those statements that warranted reappraisal and, after reproducing them verbatim, have provided our comments.