Abstract

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of death from malignancy, with approximately 989,600 new cases and more than 738,000 deaths occurring every year worldwide. A significant geographic variation exists, with the highest rates reported in East Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe. In the Western world, gastric cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage in the majority of the patients, in contrast to Japan where the use of screening enables detection of early disease. Although the overall...