Imaging and Staging for Stomach Malignancy

Therapeutic decisions regarding surgical, endoscopic, and medical management of gastric tumors depends on tumor type, anatomic location of the tumor, and, in the setting of malignant tumors, the clinical staging of the lesion. Common types of stomach tumors include adenocarcinoma, which accounts of 90% of stomach malignancies, lymphomas, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), and neuroendocrine tumors. A detailed physical examination during initial evaluation may help target the approach during malignancy staging. Endoscopy offers a large armamentarium of tools for diagnosis and staging of gastric tumors. EUS is currently the mainstay in local staging and obtaining tissue diagnosis of primary tumor and nodal metastasis. Advances in imaging modalities have provided precise tools for diagnosis and staging of stomach malignancies. This review contains 11 figures, 1 table, and 35 references. Key Words: endoscopy, endoscopic ultrasonography, gastric malignancy, GIST, MALT lymphoma, neuroendocrine tumors, staging