• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.71-77
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• 2009

Endoscopic resection is one of the curative options for early gastric cancer. However, based on large-scale data about the risk of lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer, endoscopic resection has been attempted for the following: differentiated intramucosal gastric cancer, regardless of size and without ulcers; differentiated intramucosal cancer, 30 mm in size with ulcers; minute submucosal differentiated cancer <30 mm in size; and undifferentiated intramucosal cancer, <20 mm in diameter without venous or lymphatic involvement. However, undifferentiated early gastric cancer exhibits different biologic behavior from differentiated early gastric cancer. Thus, the application of endoscopic resection for undifferentiated early gastric cancer remains controversial. In this review, we discuss the application of endoscopic resection for undifferentiated early gastric cancer based on analysis of biologic behavior and data of endoscopic resection.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2001

Purpose: Submucosal gastric carcinomas metastasize to lymph nodes more often than the intramucosal gastric carcinomas. The objectives of this study are to clarify the characteristics of submucosal gastric carcinomas, especially in reference to the status of lymph node metastasis, and to explore the possibility of a minimally invasive operation. Materials and Methods: The clinicopathologic features of 88 patients with submucosal gastric carcinoma, all of whom were treated with a $D_{2}+\alpha$ gastrectomy between January 1994 and December 1999, were examined retrospectively with respect to the status of lymph nodes. The size, depth of submucosal invasion, histologic differentiation, location,and macroscopic finding of the tumor were investigated in association with the presence or the absence of lymph node metastasis. Results: Among the 88 patients, 15 ($17.05\%$) had lymph node metastasis, and the status of metastasis was significantly correlated with tumor size and depth of submucosal invasion. The frequency of metastasis was $0\%$ (0/7) of up to 1.0 cm and $18.5\%$ (15/81) over 1.0 cm in size (p=0.034) and $6.1\%$ (2/33) of up to 1.0mm and $23.6\%$ (13/55) over 1.0 mm in depth of submucosal invasion (p=0.042). Conclusion: The tumor size and depth of submucosal invasion are useful indicators of lymph node metastasis in submucosal gastric carcinoma. A minimally invasive operation can be applied for submucosal gastric carcinoma up to 1.0 cm in size Further studies are needed to limited surgery for depth of submucosal invasion.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.70-78
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• 2008

Purpose: VEGF-C and VEGF-D are angiogenetic factors, and abnormal expression of E-cadherin hasa role in the progression of gastric carcinoma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the expression of E-cadherin, VEGF-C and VEGF-D with the presence of lymph node metastases (LNM) using cytokeratin 18 in early gastric cancer (EGC). Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical staining for E-cadherin, VEGF-C and VEGF-D was performed in 49 EGC patients from March 1997 to December 2002. To evaluate the real extent of LNM, 1,562 lymph nodes from 49 patients were re-examined with the use of cytokeratin 18. Results: Eleven (0.7%) LNM were newly found in 12.2% (n=6) of patients. The real LNM rate was 3.6% in mucosal invasive (m) cancer and 38.1% in submucosal invasive (sm). Stage migration was seen in three patients (6.1%). Abnormal expression of E-cadherin was detected in 36.7% of the patients and expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-D was detected in 16.3% and 36.7% of the patients, respectively. Abnormal expression of E-cadherin was significantly correlated with tumor differentiation (P=0.0103) and Lauren classification (P<0.0001). There was no positive relationship of VEGF-C and VEGF-D expression with the clinicopathological findings for EGC including LNM. However, the frequency of lymph node metastases was significantly higher in patients that demonstrated abnormal expression of E-cadherin with positive immunoreactivity of VEGF-C or VEGF-D (P=0.031). Conclusion: In present study, we could not demonstrate a relationship between the presence of LNM and expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in EGC. However, VEGF-C or VEGF-D expression, in addition to the abnormal expression of E-cadherin, was correlated with the real extent of LNM in EGC.