Pharmacoeconomic studies of targeted agents in gastric cancer: ready for prime time?

Gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer represents a major health public issue. This disease is the second leading cause of cancer related death among men and the fourth among women (1). In China, the well known decline of incidence was less dramatic than other countries; in fact, an increase has been observed in the oldest and the youngest age subgroup, and a less remarkable decline has been observed among women than in men (2). Of note is that the age of onset of developing gastric cancer in Chinese population is younger than that in the West.