Stomach Cancer: An Overview

Stomach cancer is still a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the Asia-Pacific region. The risk factors are well known. However, the clinical symptoms are very nonspecific. Indeed, most of the stomach cancers are diagnosed at a late stage in most countries outside Japan. This contributes to the overall poor survival rate. Surgery remains the main modality for curative treatment. However, there are controversies over the extent of surgical resection. For locally advanced and metastatic disease, other nonsurgical modalities play an increasing role. Future efforts to improve the outcome of the disease should therefore focus on early detection.