Progress and remaining challenges in comprehensive gastric cancer treatment

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common cancer among all cancer fields and currently the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths both in men and women worldwide. Additionally, the incidence and mortality of GC significantly varies due to different eating habits and environmental and genetic factors in different areas. Remarkably, with the development of techniques and surgical equipment along with newly emerging drugs and therapeutics, the 5-year survival for GC patients has increased and the death rate has decreased. In this perspective, based on current therapies in GC field around the world, we present a systematic discussion about the state of advanced clinical treatments including surgical resection, systemic chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy and enhanced recovery after surgery. Although challenges remain which require further study and investigation, in this review, we mainly focus on the promising clinical treatment strategies in GC to date.