With the recent advances in genome sequencing technologies, comprehensive cancer genomic profiling has revealed the in-depth molecular mechanisms of gastric malignancies. New insights into the carcinogenesis pathways of gastric cancers have been acquired, not only by DNA sequencing, but also by the expression profiling of the transcriptome, the identification of chimeric genes, and epi-genetic profiling (such as DNA hypermethylation). Global genomic profiling of gastric cancers, in combination with histopathology, etiology, and cancer biology, has clarified that gastric cancers can be categorized into four subtypes with specific genomic characteristics. Here, we summarize recent knowledge concerning the clinically relevant genomic classifications of gastric cancers and discuss the therapeutic implications for such genomic subtypes, including future perspectives for immune-checkpoint blockade therapies against gastric malignancies.
Keywords: cancer genetics; gastric cancer; genomic pathology.
© 2016 Japanese Society of Pathology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.