Farewell Address from Prof. Yuko Kitagawa, Immediate Past President of IGCA and 15^th IGCC Congress President

With Gratitude from the Immediate Past President of IGCA

As the President of IGCA from 2023 for two years, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations on the 30^th anniversary of IGCA, an organization that has greatly contributed to the global advancement of gastric cancer diagnosis, treatment, and research, as well as on the tremendous success of the 16^th IGCC in Amsterdam led by Prof. Henk Hartgrink.

I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have supported and collaborated with us during this time.

From a global perspective, the battle against gastric cancer—which still threatens the lives of many patients—remains an ongoing challenge. Nevertheless, we have witnessed remarkable progress: refined surgical techniques such as robot-assisted surgery have been established; cutting-edge drug therapies, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and various molecular targeted agents, are opening new chapters in gastric cancer treatment; and the efforts of pathologists and basic scientists have steadily unraveled the mechanisms of gastric cancer initiation and progression.

When IGCA was founded in 1995, effective drug therapies were scarce, and the organization was largely comprised of surgeons who played a central role in treatment. Today, IGCA has evolved into a platform where experts from a wide range of fields around the world bring together their collective wisdom.

Under the leadership of our new IGCA President, Prof. Henk Hartgrink, and our dynamic Secretary General, Prof. Han-Kwang Yang, I am confident that IGCA will continue to flourish.

I am truly grateful to have had the privilege of working alongside all of you on the IGCA stage for so many years.

Yuko Kitagawa
Immediate Past President IGCA

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