Histopathologic classification of adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction

Abstract

In contrast to squamous cell carcinomas of the esophagus as well as adenocarcinomas of the distal or middle third of the stomach, the incidence of adenocarcinomas in the distal esophagus or EG junction increased continuously during the last decades. Initially, most of these cancers were thought to represent either esophageal or gastric carcinomas (especially the so-called "carcinomas of the cardia"). However, it became clear that the pathogenesis of these cancers exhibits differences. While most of the "true" adenocarcinomas of the distal esophagus arise predominantly on the basis of Barrett's metaplasia developing in the clinical setting of gastroesophageal reflux disease, the etiology of cancers of the cardia and the subcardial stomach remained unclear. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.