Pre and intra-operative methods of staging gastric cancer.

The aim of this paper was to examine the indications and limits of pre- and intra-operative instrumental diagnosis of gastric cancer. In order to achieve this effectively, the authors emphasized the importance of proper staging methods and obtained a detailed description of tumor diffusion. The most important diagnostic instruments considered were magnetic resonance, endosonography, intra-operative echography, pre- and intra-operative immunoscintography and a cytological examination of peritoneal lavage fluid. The authors concluded that pre- and intra-operative staging of gastric cancer is important for two major reasons: it results in the most accurate definition possible of disease evolution, enabling a proper therapeutic program; and it involves a combination of three complementary metasurgical treatments.