Molecular Background and Pathogenesis of the Adenocarcinoma at the Oesophagogastric Junction

Molecular Background and Pathogenesis of the Adenocarcinoma at the Oesophagogastric Junction During the past decades, there was a significant increase in the incidence of adenocarcinomas at the oesophagogastric junction. This underlines the necessity to specifically analyse this special and heterogeneous type of cancer. The adenocarcinoma at the oesophagogastric junction can be divided into two entities with considerable biological differences. Depending on their anatomical location, they either show characteristics of adenocarcinomas of the oesophagus or of the stomach. Reflux disease displays the main risk factor for oesophageal adenocarcinoma, while the infection with Helicobacter pylori increases the risk for gastric adenocarcinoma. Previous studies during the last years mainly focused on epidemiological trends and risk factors. Therefore, literature about the molecular characteristics of these two types of cancer is scarce so far. The main focus of this article is to review the current literature regarding pathogenetic mechanisms and molecular features of the adenocarcinoma at the oesophagogastric junction.