Recent clinical trials of adjuvant therapy for gastric cancer in Japan have shown improved survival benefits, but the results have been considered controversial and have been viewed with some skepticism in the West. Until now, the efforts of Japanese surgical oncologists in multimodality therapy have not been fully understood because they have not been adequately reported in English. This volume now presents the experience and expertise of Japanese surgeons who utilize preoperative or intraoperative chemotherapy, or a combination of systemic and regional chemotherapy. Their collected work provides valuable insight in the Japanese perspective and success in treating gastric cancer. Included in the appendix is an extensive tabular analysis of the gastric cancer database at the Cancer Institute Hospital of Tokyo. Probably the largest such database in the world from a single institution, the analyses present the state of the art in treatment of gastric cancer.

Recent decades have seen remarkable advances in the treatment of upper gastrointestinal malignancies, i.e., adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma as well as gastrointestinal stromal and other rare tumors of the esophagus and stomach. While, historically, surgical resection has been the sole treatment for these tumors, multimodal therapies have meanwhile proven their efficacy. At present, pre- and postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy, targeted drug therapy, and stage-specific surgical approaches are all indispensable cornerstones of an individualized treatment for upper gastrointestinal malignancies. With such multimodal treatment, better outcomes comprising improved quality of life and prolonged survival have been achieved for patients. However, for many tumor entities and stages, the ideal combination and sequence of treatments is still being evaluated in clinical trials. Moreover, the value of novel approaches such as immunotherapy or robotic surgery remains a matter of research. In this Special Issue of Cancers, up-to-date original research, short communications, and comprehensive review articles on all modalities playing a role in the treatment of upper gastrointestinal malignancies have been published.

Although there has been a slow but steady decrease in incidence, gastric cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Several aspects of the oncological and surgical management are still controversial and so gastric cancer represents a challenge for the surgeon. This book aims to delineate the state of the art in the surgical and oncological treatment of gastric cancer, describing the new TNM staging system, the extent of visceral resection and lymphadenectomy focusing on the different open and minimally invasive surgical techniques and discussing intraoperative chemohyperthermia and neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment. Operative endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography are also discussed, as these now have an important role in both diagnostic work-up and palliative care of gastric cancer patients. Only a multidisciplinary approach involving the surgeon, gastroenterologist, and oncologist can produce the comprehensive and integrated overview that today constitutes a winning strategy for the optimization of results.What we hope we have achieved is a flexible, up-to-date, exhaustive publication, rich in illustrations and consistent with evidence-based medicine.

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Stomach cancer (also called gastric cancer) is the growth of cancer cells in the lining and wall of the stomach. Stomach cancer represents roughly 2 percent (25,500) cases of all new cancer cases yearly in the United States, but it is much more common in Japan, Great Britain, South America, and Iceland. It is associated with high salt in the diet, smoking, and low intake of fruits and vegetables.Infection with H. pylori is the main risk factor in about 80 percent or more of gastric cancers. It is more common in men. A very small percentage of diffuse-type gastric cancers are thought to be genetic. Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC) has only recently been identified and research is ongoing, but genetic testing and treatment options are available for families at risk. Metastasis occurs in 80-90 percent of individuals with stomach cancer, with a five year survival rate of 75 percent in those diagnosed in early stages and less than 30 percent of those diagnosed in late stages. This book presents new and important research from around the world.

Gastric Cancer: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional: 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ eBook that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Gastric Cancer. The editors have built Gastric Cancer: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Gastric Cancer in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Gastric Cancer: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional: 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

This issue of Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America, Guest Edited by Neal Wilkinson, MD, is devoted to the Management of Gastric Cancer. Articles in this issue will focus on Epidemiology; Genetics and Prophylactic Surgery; Endoscopic Diagnosis & Staging; Gastric Stromal Tumors (GIST); Management of Early Stage Gastric Cancer; Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR); Tailored Lymphadenectomy; Laparoscopic Resection Gastric Cancer - Western Experience; Gastric Cancer - Eastern Experience; Update of Gastric Cancer Clinical Trials; Preoperative and Postoperative Chemotherapy for Gastric Cancer; and Phase I and II Clinical Trials.

The first part of this book summarizes the rationale and the preclinical data for combined treatment with ionizing radiation and pharmaceutical agents. Individual chapters focus on forms of combined treatment, with due consideration being given to a range of drugs and to emerging combinations with small molecules and antibodies. The second part comprises a series of disease-specific chapters in which the clinical results of combined modality treatment are presented.

This book clearly describes the surgical procedures employed in patients with gastric cancer. The techniques used in the various types of gastrectomy are presented step by step, and the roles of endoscopic treatment and chemotherapy are also discussed. A distinctive practical feature is the provision of accompanying online videos of standard surgical procedures, which will serve as excellent learning aids for novice practitioners and provide ideal teaching material for experienced surgeons. Surgery remains the mainstay in the treatment of gastric cancer. With advances in tumor biology and technical developments, gastric cancer surgery has become more diverse and its outcomes have steadily improved. However, further improvement of certain aspects of surgical procedures and techniques is still required. Surgery for Gastric Cancer will acquaint readers with the state of the art in the field and prove a valuable tool in the quest for optimal practice.