ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Although gastric cancer is declining in incidence when estimated in standardized ratio statistics, it will still remain an important health-care problem during the coming decades. Currently, most of cancer cases outside Japan are diagnosed at advanced stages when radical management is substantially less effective. Infection with Helicobacter pylori bacteria is related to the majority of cases. Atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia are well-characterized precursors of the cancer. Currently, the only method available to diagnose exactly these lesions is upper endoscopy with an appropriate biopsy work-up. Biomarkers for noninvasive detection of early gastric cancer and/or the precursors would be of substantial importance to decrease the cancer-related mortality, in particular in the developing part of the world.
