ABSTRACT
Gastric cancer (GC) ranks as the fifth most prevalent cancer and the fourth deadliest cancer worldwide. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, GC represents about 4.8% of cancer cases with more than 35,000 new cases in 2020. To strengthen and improve the management of this cancer in the region, a group of MENA experts in the field of GC developed the first MENA consensus recommendations for the management of advanced GC. A total of 28 statements were drafted, discussed and voted on, using a modified Delphi process, during a virtual consensus meeting. The statements addressed the areas of epidemiology, biomarkers and treatment.
Subject(s)
Stomach Neoplasms , Humans , Stomach Neoplasms/diagnosis , Stomach Neoplasms/epidemiology , Stomach Neoplasms/therapy , Consensus , Africa, Northern/epidemiology , Middle East/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The overall 5-year survival of gastric cancer (GC) has change only little in the last decades and it remains the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. However, in the past few years a more effective combination chemotherapy has raised the bar of curability of about 10% in resectable disease. Morever, a deeper knowledge of GC biology have unveiled biomarkers to help personalize adjunctive treatments in patients candidate to surgery. Despite a plateau in efficacy of fist-line treatment, incremental survival advantages have been recorded in unresectable advanced disease. The growing number of effective drugs in second and later lines along with a more judicious delivery of cytotoxics and early supportive interventions have enabled more patients to proceed beyond first-line. The continuum of care has become a reality in a considerable proportion of patients that offer opportunities to improve outcomes. Finally, the advent of the immune checkpoint inhibitors has brought great expectations in molecularly-defined subset of patients. This Review summarizes the state-of-the art in the management of GC together with novel concepts that have entered clinical development with the potential of change practice in the foreseeable future.
