Modern methods of radiologic diagnosis of gastric cancer

Abstract

The patients with gastric cancer (GC) sometimes have a very poor prognosis. In general, it depends on the time of GC verification, which dramatically changes prognosis and treatment plans. This article reflects current data on the epidemiology, mortality rate, and rates of the incidence of gastric cancer in different countries of the world. The most common and clinically convenient classifications and staging systems for gastric cancer are given, the need for the earliest possible diagnosis and verification of the stage of the tumor process is substantiated. There are considered in details the modern methods of the gastric cancer diagnostics, including esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), as the method of choice for the primary detection of gastric cancer, and various methods of radiation imaging, including multispiral computed tomography and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), combined with chromoendoscopy, narrow-band tomography, and confocal laser endoscopy. Particular attention is paid to the presentation of various methods of preoperative T-staging and N-staging of gastric cancer, comparing the diagnostic accuracy of MSCT and endoscopic ultrasonography. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) are presented. Special attention is paid to the comparative analysis of the effectiveness of various imaging techniques in assessing the effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy; the results of tumor volumetry are compared with the histological response according to the Mandard score. Further prospects for the application and development of radiological research techniques are discussed.