Gastric cancer (GC) continues to be an important health threat as the third leading cause of cancer related death in both sexes worldwide. In a recent analysis, the mortality trends for the time period from 1980 till 2011 were significantly downward in all countries, but the declines in the USA, EU and several other major countries were of low magnitude when compared with the past. Furthermore, the relative contribution of cardia cancers compared with noncardia cancers increased among countries with higher GC rates. With respect to preneoplastic changes of the gastric mucosa, a large population-based study suggests that Helicobacter pylori infection and antigastric parietal cell antibodies-mediated autoimmune response might, for the most part, be independent and follow distinct pathways rather than causally related pathways leading to chronic atrophic gastritis. A large prospective, randomized, open-label Korean trial questioned the role of H. pylori eradication for the prevention of metachronous lesions after endoscopic resection of early GC. A review of 1258 Japanese cases undergoing curative endoscopic submucosa dissection for early GC showed that scheduled follow-up endoscopy is mandatory for detecting metachronous lesions at an early stage, where they can be treated by endoscopic resection. Ramucirumab, a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 antagonist, is the first biological treatment that provides survival benefits to patients with advanced GC in progress after first-line chemotherapy. The target agent rilotumumab is currently being evaluated in patients with advanced GC overexpressing the HGF/c-MET signaling pathway. In the near future, ipilimumab and nivolumab, two immunostimulatory monoclonal antibodies with antineoplastic effects, might offer new therapeutic options for patients with advanced GC.In 2014, Helicobacter pylori infection is still one of the world's most prevalent infections and continues to represent the major risk factor for gastric cancer (GC), which accounts annually for at least 738,000 deaths Gastric Cancer: Epidemiologic Aspects GC remains the third leading cause of death from cancer worldwide, following lung and liver cancer [2]. A declining incidence of GC has been registered over the past sixty years. However, recent epidemiologic data show that the incidence of noncardia GC in younger age groups (<50 years) remains constant or is even on the rise again in the United States since 1977, whereas