Duodenal endoscopic resection was feasible as a therapeutic procedure, but it should only be performed by highly skilled endoscopists because of its technical difficulty. Piecemeal resection by EMR is acceptable for small lesions, based on these excellent long-term outcomes.

Endoscopic resection is now a widely accepted treatment for early gastric cancer, having a negligible risk of lymph-node metastasis. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a relatively new endoscopic resection method developed in the mid1990s that facilitates en-bloc resection even in patients with large or ulcerative lesions difficult to resect using conventional endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). However, compared to EMR, ESD requires a longer procedure time and a higher level of technical expertise, in addition to having a slightly greater risk of complications. Endoscopists must be aware of not only the risk factors for, and incidence of, complications, but also how to effectively treat such complications. Perforation and bleeding are the major complications associated with gastric ESD. The perforation and delayed bleeding rates have been reported to range from 1.2% to 5.2% and 0% to 15.6%, respectively, and can usually be managed with appropriate endoscopic treatment. Immediate bleeding during gastric ESD is quite common and controlling such bleeding, which is primarily achieved by carrying out electrocautery, plays a critical role in the successful completion of ESD.

Background Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been used to treat patients with early gastric cancers (EGCs), including large and ulcerative lesions. Few published data exist on the long-term outcomes of this treatment with median follow-up periods of over 5 years; we therefore aimed to assess the long-term outcomes of EGC patients undergoing ESD. Methods A total of 1,956 consecutive patients with 2,210 EGC lesions at initial onset underwent ESD with curative intent at our hospital from 1999 to 2006. We performed a retrospective analysis of the 5-year survival of EGC patients undergoing curative ESD for absolute indications or for expanded indications. Results For the pathological curability, curative ESD for absolute indications, curative ESD for expanded indications of differentiated-type EGC, and curative ESD for undifferentiated-type EGC were achieved in 781, 713, and 43 patients, respectively. The median follow-up period was 83.3 months. Among the 1,537 patients, there were only two patients with recurrence, including one who developed a regional lymph node (LN) metastasis and one who developed a distant LN metastasis with local recurrence resulting in gastric cancer-related death. Seven died from metachronous gastric cancers. The 5-year rates of overall survival, disease-specific survival, and relative survival were 92.6, 99.9, and 105.0 %, respectively.Conclusions Based on the high rate of 5-year survival among EGC patients undergoing curative ESD for absolute indications or for expanded indications in the largest patient series with a median follow-up period of over 5 years, ESD could be employed as a standard treatment for EGC lesions.

ObjectiveBleeding after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancer (EGC) is a frequent adverse event after ESD. We aimed to develop and externally validate a clinically useful prediction model (BEST-J score: Bleeding after ESD Trend from Japan) for bleeding after ESD for EGC.DesignThis retrospective study enrolled patients who underwent ESD for EGC. Patients in the derivation cohort (n=8291) were recruited from 25 institutions, and patients in the external validation cohort (n=2029) were recruited from eight institutions in other areas. In the derivation cohort, weighted points were assigned to predictors of bleeding determined in the multivariate logistic regression analysis and a prediction model was established. External validation of the model was conducted to analyse discrimination and calibration.ResultsA prediction model comprised 10 variables (warfarin, direct oral anticoagulant, chronic kidney disease with haemodialysis, P2Y12 receptor antagonist, aspirin, cilostazol, tumour size >30 mm, lower-third in tumour location, presence of multiple tumours and interruption of each kind of antithrombotic agents). The rates of bleeding after ESD at low-risk (0 to 1 points), intermediate-risk (2 points), high-risk (3 to 4 points) and very high-risk (≥5 points) were 2.8%, 6.1%, 11.4% and 29.7%, respectively. In the external validation cohort, the model showed moderately good discrimination, with a c-statistic of 0.70 (95% CI, 0.64 to 0.76), and good calibration (calibration-in-the-large, 0.05; calibration slope, 1.01).ConclusionsIn this nationwide multicentre study, we derived and externally validated a prediction model for bleeding after ESD. This model may be a good clinical decision-making support tool for ESD in patients with EGC.

This multicenter prospective study showed favorable short-term outcomes for gastric ESD.

ESD for undifferentiated EGC can achieve curative resection with an excellent 5-year mortality rate.

Background Clinical outcomes of early gastric cancer (EGC) patients after noncurative endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) have not been fully elucidated; we therefore aimed to clarify these outcomes. Methods A total of 3058 consecutive patients with 3474 clinically diagnosed EGCs at initial onset underwent ESD with curative intent at our hospital between 1999 and 2010. We retrospectively assessed the following clinical outcomes of noncurative gastric ESD patients with a possible risk of lymph node (LN) metastasis by dividing patients into two groups with different treatment strategies (additional gastrectomy and simple follow-up): presence of LN metastasis at the time of gastrectomy, incidence of LN and distant metastases during the follow-up period, clinicopathological factors associated with metastasis, and 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS). Results After exclusion of 75 noncurative ESD patients with only a positive horizontal margin, 569 noncurative ESD patients with a possible risk of LN metastasis were identified. Among the 356 patients undergoing additional gastrectomy, LN metastasis was identified in 18 patients. A positive vertical margin with submucosal invasion (odds ratio 3.6) and lymphovascular invasion (odds ratio 3.5) were significantly associated with LN metastasis. The 5-year DSS rate was 98.8 %. Among the 212 patients who underwent simple follow-up, LN and/or distant metastases were found in eight patients. In this group, lymphovascular invasion (hazard ratio 6.6) was significantly associated with metastasis with a 5-year DSS rate of 96.8 %.Conclusions Additional gastrectomy should be performed particularly in noncurative gastric ESD patients with lymphovascular invasion or a positive vertical margin with submucosal invasion.

The incidence of MGC increases with time after curative gastric ESD, therefore surveillance endoscopy should be continued indefinitely.