[Evaluation of traditional pathological classification at molecular classification era for gastric cancer]

Histopathological classification is in a pivotal position in both basic research and clinical diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer. Currently, there are different classification systems in basic science and clinical application. In medical literatures, different classifications are used including Lauren and WHO systems, which have confused many researchers. Lauren classification has been proposed for half a century, but is still used worldwide. It shows many advantages of simple, easy handling with prognostic significance. The WHO classification scheme is better than Lauren classification in that it is continuously being revised according to the progress of gastric cancer, and is always used in the clinical and pathological diagnosis of common scenarios. Along with the progression of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics researches, molecular classification of gastric cancer becomes the current hot topics. The traditional therapeutic approach based on phenotypic characteristics of gastric cancer will most likely be replaced with a gene variation mode. The gene-targeted therapy against the same molecular variation seems more reasonable than traditional chemical treatment based on the same morphological change.