SURGICAL RESECTION FOR GASTRIC CANCER: A DESCRIPTIVE REVIEW

Abstract

n 2012, gastric cancer was the third most common cancer, causing 723,000 deaths worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to explore in detail the surgical resection techniques for gastric malignancies. There is a significant geographic variation in the incidence of this disease around the world, with a predominance in Asia and South America and the lowest numbers are found in North America. For the present review we have searched the relevant articles into the PubMed/Medline and Google Scholar databases. We have used the following keywords: ‘gastric’ OR ‘stomach’ AND ‘cancer’ OR ‘adenocarcinoma’ OR ‘neoplasia’ AN D ‘surgery’ OR ‘surgical’ OR ‘gastrectomy’ OR ‘lymphadenectomy’. In western countries, with a significant predominance of locally advanced tumors total/subtotal gastrectomy with spleen and pancreas-preserving DII lymphadenectomy by open approach is the standard technique. Laparoscopic radical gastrectomy is the preferred technique, even for locally advanced tumors in Japan, Korea, and China. The surgical approach of patients with gastric cancer is challenging, especially due to increasing use of minimally invasive approach, neoadjuvant therapy, and expanding criteria for resection.