Cutting-edge evidence of adjuvant treatments for gastric cancer

Introduction: In recent decades, adjuvant therapy has secured a firm position in the treatment of gastric cancer by improving patient prognosis. Currently, standard therapy varies between East Asia, Europe and North America due to heterogeneities of the tumor, race, medical environment and/or surgical procedure. Although adjuvant strategies, proved effective in each region and implemented to clinical practice, certain patient populations with advanced gastric cancer show recurrence and a fatal prognosis. The development of a universal adjuvant therapy with a high efficacy and acceptable adverse events or with less toxicity and non-inferiority seems to have become urgent and imperative. Areas covered: In this review, we aimed to summarize the current knowledge regarding adjuvant therapies for gastric cancer, including chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy and molecular targeted therapy, based on clinical trials and to introduce the pivotal ongoing phase III trials. Expert commentary: The efficacy of adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence remains insufficient although several trials have shown a significant benefit in patients with localized advanced gastric cancer. The development of more effective and universal multimodal adjuvant therapy is required.