ABSTRACT
Epidemiologically, around 15,500 persons per year contract gastric cancer with continuously decreasing incidence and a 5-year survival rate of only 30% to 35%. Contrary to the Asian countries, there are no prevention programs for gastric cancer in Germany, which leads to the disease frequently being diagnosed in locally advanced stages and predominantly being treated with multimodal therapy concepts. Complete (R0) resection is the therapy of choice for resectable gastric cancer. Special forms of gastric cancer that are limited to the mucosa can be endoscopically resected with a curative intent. Systematic D2 lymphadenectomy (LAD) plays a decisive role in the management of local advanced tumors because it significantly contributes to the reduction of tumor-related death and both local and regional relapse rates. Perioperative chemotherapy improves prognosis in the advanced stages, whereas palliative chemotherapy is normally indicated for metastatic diseases. Standardized resection procedures and the use of individualized multimodal therapy concepts have led to improvement in the 5-year survival rate.
ABSTRACT
In 2012 the European Union Network of Excellence on gastric and esophagogastric junction cancer (EUNE) held its third conference in Cologne, Germany. The main themes discussed included translational research, standard and audit, early diagnosis, development of surgical treatment, adequate surgery for EGJ cancer, adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatment, prevention of peritoneal carcinomatosis and finally education and training. The meeting was attended by 150 experts from 18 different countries.
