No abstract

The results of endoscopic treatment of early gastric cancers were evaluated. The lesions were divided into two groups: the group with an absolute indication (AI) and the other with a relative indication (RI) for endoscopic treatment. Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) was performed on 106 lesions in 104 patients. In addition, 108 patients were treated by laser irradiation (LI). The status of the patients were serially assessed during the postoperative period. The residual rate in AI patients who underwent EMR was 30.3%, whereas the rate in RI patients was 80%. The residual rate in 70 AI patients who underwent LI was 0%. Although the recurrence rate was 4.2%, the cumulative curative rate after additional treatments was 100%. The residual rate in RI patients who underwent LI was 17.4%, and the recurrence rate was 13.2%. The cumulative curative rate after additional treatments was 97.4%. In AI patients, the initial mode of treatment use was EMR. Patients who exhibited residual cancerous tissue after EMR or those in whom EMR was difficult to perform, either technically or otherwise, underwent LI. EMR was the first choice therapeutic technique because endoscopic specimens obtained could be subjected to histopathologic examination. In RI patients, the conventional operation was the therapeutic technique of first choice. The LI procedure was performed in those who either refused surgery or who could not undergo operative treatment for various reasons.

The present findings indicate that long-term survival of patients who undergo gastric resection for EGC is extremely good and that lymph node metastasis represents an independent prognostic factor when analyzed according to cancer-related survival. Future developments for the treatment of EGC are expected to improve quality of life for patients after gastric resection.

The purpose of this review is to outline the laparoscopic-endoscopic procedures that we perform for early gastric cancer. These procedures were applied to 29 patients. Preoperative work-up included gastric endoscopy, barium X-ray examination, endoscopic ultrasonography, and histological examination, and surgery was performed in patients diagnosed as having mucosal gastric cancer for which endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) was difficult. Laparoscopic wedge resection of the stomach using the lesion-lifting method, by which a wedge resection is made while pulling up the full-thickness gastric wall, was carried out in the 16 patients with lesions of the anterior wall, lesser curvature, and greater curvature of the stomach. On pathological examination of resected specimens, the surgical margin and lymphatic or venous invasion were negative in all these patients. The histological depth of the lesions was m (mucosal cancer) in 15 patients and sm1 (slight cancer infiltration into the submucosal layer) in one. This one patient later underwent gastrectomy but no lymph node metastases were found. Oral nutrition was resumed for a mean (+/- SD) of 2.9 +/- 0.8 days after operation, and the duration of hospitalization after operation was 12.3 +/- 3.4 days. The 13 patients with lesions of the posterior wall of the stomach and near the cardia or the pylorus received laparoscopic intragastric mucosal resection. Laparotomy was required in 1 of these patients due to intraoperative hemorrhage. The surgical margins were negative in all 12 patients in whom laparoscopic intragastric mucosal resection was successful. Lymphatic or venous invasion was positive in 2, both of whom had sm1 cancer lesions of both of these patients were located in the cardiac region, total gastrectomy was avoided, and careful observation is continued. Oral nutrition was resumed 4.0 +/- 1.6 days after operation, and the duration of hospitalization after operation was 12.0 +/- 3.5 days. In addition, no postoperative complication was noted after either procedure, and all patients have been recurrence free for a follow-up period of 460 months. Selected properly, these laparoscopic endoscopic procedures are considered to be curative and minimally invasive treatments for early gastric cancer.