[Non-surgical treatment of cancers of the stomach]

In western countries, most gastric cancers are diagnosed at locally advanced stages. Surgery is the only curative treatment, but the risk of locoregional relapses and of distant metastases is very high. This is the rationale for adjuvant treatments. However, currently available data do not allow a definitive conclusion as to whether chemotherapy or radiation therapy are of value as adjuvant treatments for poor-prognosis gastric cancers. Further randomized clinical trials are still needed. By contrast, it is admitted that these treatments have a palliative role in the management of patients with metastases.