Overview
Gastric cancer is one of the most common and serious cancers in Asia, with China accounting for nearly half of all global cases. For patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease, access to a specialist who combines surgical mastery with cutting-edge systemic therapy can be life-changing.
China Medical Concierge Shanghai (CMCS) connects international patients with Shanghai's leading gastric cancer specialists, providing end-to-end support from remote consultation to post-treatment follow-up.
Understanding Gastric Cancer
What Is Gastric Cancer?
Gastric (stomach) cancer develops in the cells lining the stomach wall. It is the fifth most common cancer globally and a leading cause of cancer mortality, particularly in East Asia. Early-stage disease is often asymptomatic, meaning many patients present at an advanced stage — making access to expert multidisciplinary care critical.
Common Symptoms
- Persistent upper abdominal pain or discomfort
- Unexplained weight loss and loss of appetite
- Nausea, vomiting, or early satiety
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- Blood in stool or dark/tarry stools
- Fatigue and anaemia
Risk Factors
- Helicobacter pylori infection
- High-salt, smoked, or processed food diet
- Family history or hereditary gastric cancer syndromes (e.g., CDH1 mutation)
- Chronic atrophic gastritis or intestinal metaplasia
- Smoking and heavy alcohol use
Diagnosis & Staging
Comprehensive staging at Shanghai's top cancer centers includes:
- Gastroscopy with biopsy — definitive diagnosis and histological subtyping
- CT scan (chest/abdomen/pelvis) — locoregional and distant staging
- Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) — T and N staging
- PET-CT — selected cases for occult metastasis
- Diagnostic laparoscopy — peritoneal staging before surgery
- Molecular profiling — HER2, PD-L1, MSI/MMR, FGFR2b, VEGFR2 for targeted and immunotherapy eligibility
Treatment Options in Shanghai
Minimally Invasive & Robotic Surgery
Shanghai's top gastric cancer surgeons are leaders in laparoscopic and da Vinci robotic gastrectomy, offering patients the benefits of smaller incisions, reduced blood loss, faster recovery, and equivalent oncological outcomes to open surgery. Function-preserving approaches — designed to maintain quality of life after resection — are a particular area of expertise.
Neoadjuvant & Conversion Therapy
For locally advanced gastric cancer (stage II–III), neoadjuvant (preoperative) chemotherapy is used to shrink the tumor before surgery, improving resectability and long-term survival. For borderline or initially unresectable cases, conversion therapy — combining chemotherapy, targeted agents, and immunotherapy — aims to downstage the disease to allow curative resection.
Perioperative Immunotherapy — A Shanghai Innovation
One of the most exciting advances in gastric cancer treatment is the integration of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) into the perioperative setting. Shanghai specialists have pioneered the use of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with chemotherapy before and after surgery for locally advanced gastric cancer — an approach now supported by landmark clinical trial data and increasingly adopted globally.
Targeted Therapy & Systemic Treatment
- HER2-positive: Trastuzumab + chemotherapy (first-line standard)
- PD-L1 positive / MSI-H: Pembrolizumab or Nivolumab-based regimens
- Advanced/metastatic disease: FLOT, SOX, XELOX, or triplet regimens tailored to molecular profile
- FGFR2b-positive: Bemarituzumab (emerging targeted option)
Why Choose Shanghai for Gastric Cancer Treatment?
- Unmatched surgical volume — Shanghai cancer centers perform among the highest numbers of gastrectomies in the world, with outcomes data comparable to Japan and South Korea
- Pioneering perioperative immunotherapy — Shanghai teams are at the forefront of integrating immunotherapy into surgical treatment pathways
- Robotic surgery expertise — da Vinci robotic gastrectomy routinely performed at leading centers
- Multidisciplinary tumor boards — every complex case reviewed by surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, and pathology
- Cost-effective world-class care — significantly lower cost than equivalent treatment in the US, UK, or Singapore
Featured Specialist: Prof. Liu Xiaowen — Fudan University Cancer Hospital
Prof. Liu Xiaowen (刘晓文) is a leading gastric cancer surgeon and Chief Physician of Gastric Surgery at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) — China's premier dedicated cancer hospital and one of Asia's most respected oncology institutions.
Clinical Expertise
- Laparoscopic gastrectomy — minimally invasive distal, total, and proximal gastrectomy
- Da Vinci robotic surgery — advanced robotic-assisted gastrectomy with precision dissection
- Function-preserving surgery — approaches designed to maintain digestive function and quality of life
- Neoadjuvant therapy for advanced gastric cancer — preoperative chemotherapy and targeted therapy to optimize surgical outcomes
- Conversion therapy for late-stage gastric cancer — systemic treatment strategies to achieve resectability in initially unresectable disease
Landmark Contribution: Perioperative Immunotherapy
Prof. Liu Xiaowen is a national pioneer in perioperative immunotherapy for locally advanced gastric cancer — among the first in China to systematically integrate PD-1 inhibitors into the preoperative treatment protocol. This approach, combining immune checkpoint blockade with chemotherapy before surgery, has shown promising results in improving pathological response rates and potentially improving long-term survival outcomes.
For international patients with stage II–III gastric cancer, Prof. Liu's team offers remote pre-consultation review of imaging, pathology, and molecular profiling reports, enabling a personalized treatment plan to be developed before arrival in Shanghai.
How CMCS Supports Your Journey
CMCS is not a hospital — we are your dedicated medical concierge, providing a trusted bridge between international patients and Shanghai's finest cancer specialists.
Our services include:
- ✅ Direct appointment coordination with Prof. Liu Xiaowen and other top gastric cancer specialists at FUSCC
- ✅ Medical record and imaging translation and pre-consultation review
- ✅ Second opinion facilitation
- ✅ Hospital admission and surgical scheduling support
- ✅ Accommodation and logistics coordination in Shanghai
- ✅ Post-treatment follow-up and remote check-in support
Contact CMCS
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with gastric cancer and would like to explore treatment options in Shanghai, our team is ready to help.
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CMCS — China Medical Concierge Shanghai. Connecting international patients with Shanghai's finest specialists.
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