Gastric cancer (GC) is currently the second leading cause of cancer death 
worldwide; unfortunately, most patients will present with locally advanced or 
metastatic disease. Despite recent progress in diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, 
and radiotherapy, prognosis remains poor. A better understanding of GC biology 
and signaling pathways is expected to improve GC therapy, and the integration of 
targeted therapies has recently become possible and appears to be promising. 
This article focuses on anti-Her-2 therapy, specifically trastuzumab, as well as 
other epidermal growth factor receptor antagonists such as cetuximab, panitumub, 
matuzumab, nimotzumab, gefitinib, and erlotinib. Additionally, drugs that target 
angiogenesis pathways are also under investigation, particulary bevacizumab, 
ramucirumab, sorafenib, sunitinib, and cediranib. Other targeted agents in 
preclinical or early clinical development include mTOR inhibitors, anti c-MET, 
polo-like kinase 1 inhibitors, anti-insulin-like growth factor, anti-heat shock 
proteins, and small molecules targeting Hedgehog signaling.