Dutta AK, Rao NV, Bharadwaj PK, Benny S. Frequency and characteristics of synchronous gastric cancers: Need for improved awareness and better detection. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(2): 113508 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i2.113508]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Amit Kumar Dutta, FRCPE, Professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ground Floor, Williams Building, Vellore 632004, Tamil Nadu, India. akdutta1995@yahoo.co.in
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Feb 15, 2026 (publication date) through Feb 3, 2026
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology
ISSN
1948-5204
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Dutta AK, Rao NV, Bharadwaj PK, Benny S. Frequency and characteristics of synchronous gastric cancers: Need for improved awareness and better detection. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(2): 113508 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i2.113508]
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Feb 15, 2026; 18(2): 113508 Published online Feb 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i2.113508
Frequency and characteristics of synchronous gastric cancers: Need for improved awareness and better detection
Amit Kumar Dutta, Nicholas Vijay Rao, Pegatraju Krishna Bharadwaj, Stephan Benny
Amit Kumar Dutta, Nicholas Vijay Rao, Pegatraju Krishna Bharadwaj, Stephan Benny, Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore 632004, Tamil Nadu, India
Author contributions: Dutta AK conceived the review and wrote the manuscript; Dutta AK, Rao NV, Bharadwaj PK, and Benny S did the literature review and critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors approved the final version to publish.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Amit Kumar Dutta, FRCPE, Professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ground Floor, Williams Building, Vellore 632004, Tamil Nadu, India. akdutta1995@yahoo.co.in
Received: August 27, 2025 Revised: September 11, 2025 Accepted: December 10, 2025 Published online: February 15, 2026 Processing time: 160 Days and 12 Hours
Abstract
The pathway of gastric cancer involves progression from atrophic gastritis to intestinal metaplasia to dysplasia and then cancer. The background mucosa in patients with gastric cancer is likely to have areas of atrophy and metaplasia, and hence, coexisting gastric cancer may be present. In this paper, we have reviewed the prevalence, characteristics, and predictors of synchronous neoplasm in patients with gastric cancer. Data on synchronous gastric neoplasms (SGNs) are mainly available from two types of studies, those detected on surgically resected specimens and those detected endoscopically. The prevalence of SGN cancer generally ranges between 5%-12% although the number may vary. Most of the synchronous lesions are noted in the distal stomach and are well differentiated on histology. Increasing age, male gender, well-differentiated histology of primary cancer, early stage of the primary cancer, and presence of atrophy and intestinal metaplasia in the background gastric mucosa increase the risk of synchronous neoplasm. SGN cancers may be missed in about one-third of cases during initial endoscopy. Overall, there is an urgent need to improve awareness of SGN cancer and improve its detection by using appropriate endoscopic evaluation. This would lead to a greater chance of curative treatment and better patient outcomes.
Core Tip: Gastric cancer is among the top causes of cancer globally. Approximately one in ten patients with gastric cancer has a coexisting neoplastic lesion in the stomach. In most instances, these synchronous lesions are at an early and curable stage. However, one-third of them are not detected at the time of diagnosis of the primary cancer. This can adversely affect the overall outcome. This minireview highlights the characteristics and risk factors of synchronous gastric neoplasms. Advances in endoscopic techniques, such as magnification and digital chromoendoscopy, facilitate better visualisation of gastrointestinal mucosa and detection of lesions. Utilization of these techniques and improved awareness about synchronous lesions may improve the detection rate and clinical outcome.
