Kyoto Classification of Gastritis and Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Identification of patients with a high risk of gastric cancer during gastric cancer surveillance is highly important. Most gastric cancers develop in the background of chronic gastritis associated with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. Pathological evaluation using biopsy specimen was proposed to stratify gastric cancer risk in the operative link for gastritis assessment and operative link for gastric intestinal metaplasia assessment staging systems from the West. However, biopsy specimens cannot represent the whole stomach, and endoscopic biopsy confers a risk of bleeding in certain patients. In the Kyoto classification of gastritis proposed by a Japanese study group, five endoscopically visible findings (atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, enlarged folds, nodularity, and diffuse redness) were selected, which are closely related to gastric cancer development due to H. pylori infection. Furthermore, the gastric cancer risk grading system based on the Kyoto classification of gastritis was suggested to identify patients with an increased risk of developing gastric cancer. Although this grading system needs validation to prove its efficacy, it is expected to be useful for most endoscopists who are involved in gastric cancer surveillance. Key words: Classification; Gastritis; Helicobacter pylori; Neoplasms; Stomach