Navigating the complexities of developing a classification of esophagogastric junction tumors suitable for preoperative setting.

Despite the worldwide decrease in the incidence of gastric cancer, the proportion of occurrence of carcinomas of the esophagogastric junction and proximal third of stomach is on the rise. The cause of this development is believed to lie in an increasing incidence of reflux esophagitis with Barrett´s metaplasia and successful eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection. The aim of this work is to present various views on the definition of the esophagogastric junction itself and to give an overview of tumor classification schemes being used (Fig. 2, Ref. 54). Keywords: gastric cancer, esophagogastric junction, definition, classification.