Development and progression of gastrointestinal disease involves inflammatory, vascular, fibrogenetic and immune reactions accompanied by deregulation of cellular growth and death often resulting in cancer of the organs affected. This book, the proceedings of Falk Symposium 132 on Disease Progression and Carcinogenesis in the Gastrointestinal Tract', held in Freiburg, Germany, October 9-10, 2002, addresses these various cellular processes in five sections in order to build up a broad pathogenic concept of gastrointestinal disease, purposely going beyond organ-specific research. Each section combines experts in the various fields of molecular medicine together with clinical scientists in order to stimulate interdisciplinary discussion. In addition, clinical chapters focus on new findings in both diagnostics and therapeutics.