We live in an era of personalized medicine and the knowledge about pathophysiology of diffuse
gastric cancer has had many advances. Thus the role of this work is to clarify what is new
from diagnosis to treatment of this disease in order to treat patients in the most tailored
manner as possible. Almost all phase III trials in gastric cancer have been performed without
taking in consideration histologic subtypes i.e. they have disregarded the differences between
diffuse gastric cancer and general gastric cancer. However the clinical practice reveals that
diffuse gastric cancer is a completely distinct disease with an aggressive course and
generally worse prognosis. The loss of cohesion between tumor cells due to the loss of
E-cadherin synthesis is the critical point on the oncogenesis of diffuse gastric cancer and is
at the root of its marked heredity. This book intends to give special attention to Diffuse
Gastric Cancer as a particular oncological entity differentiating it from general gastric
cancer exploring and discussing all its peculiarities and addressing the basic aspects
(pathology and genetics) along with the most recent therapeutic alternatives for this
condition.
