Article history:

Gastric cancer ranks fourth in incidence and second in mortality among all cancers worldwide. Despite the de-crease in incidence in some regions of the world, gastric cancer continues to present a major clinical challenge due to most cases being diagnosed in advanced stages with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. The development of gastric cancer is a complex and multifactorial process involving a number of etiological factors and multiple ge-netic and epigenetic alterations. Among the predisposing factors are: Helicobacter pylori infection, high salt intake, smoking, and in a small percentage of patients, a familial genetic component. More than 95 % of stomach cancer cases are adenocarcinomas, which are classified into two major histologic types: intestinal and diffuse. Intestinal type ad-enocarcinoma is preceded by a sequence of gastric lesions known as Correa´s cascade and is the histologic type associ-ated with the global decrease in gastric cancer rates. Diffuse type adenocarcinomas have a more aggressive behavior and worse prognosis than those of the intestinal type. According to the anatomical location, adenocarcinomas are classified as proximal (originating in the cardia) and distal (originat-ing in the body and antrum). This classification seems to recognize two different clinical entities. Surgical resection of the tumor at an early stage is the only effective treatment method. Therefore, the identification and surveillance of patients at risk may play a significant role in survival rates. Anti-Helicobacter pylori therapy has been shown to be an ef-fective measure in the prevention of gastric cancer