• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.199-209
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• 2024

Purpose: Long-term outcomes of patients with positive lateral margins (pLMs) after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancer (EGC). This study aimed to evaluate the remnant cancer and survival rates of patients with pLMs compared with those who underwent curative resection. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on consecutive patients with pLMs as the only non-curative factor of expanded indication who underwent ESD for EGC with a follow-up duration of 5 years or more. The rates of remnant cancer, recurrence, and survival were analyzed and compared to those of control patients who underwent curative resection by propensity score matching. Results: Among 3,515 patients treated with ESD between 2005 and 2018, 123 non-curative EGCs were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 108 patients were followed up without endoscopic or surgical resection for 8.2 years. The control group was matched in a 1:1 ratio with patients with EGC who underwent curative resection after ESD. The observation group with pLMs had a higher incidence of remnant cancer (25.9%; 28/108) compared to that in the curative resection group (0/108; P=0.000). The remaining tumors were treated with surgical or endoscopic resection, and no additional recurrences were observed. The overall survival analysis demonstrated no significant difference between the observation and curative resection groups (P=0.577). Conclusions: No difference was observed in the overall survival rate between observation and curative resection groups. Therefore, observation may be a possible option for incomplete ESD with pLMs if continuous follow-up is performed.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.34-42
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• 2016

Purpose: Early gastric cancer cases that are estimated to meet indications for treatment before endoscopic submucosal resection are often revealed to be out-of-indication after the treatment. We investigated the short-term treatment outcomes in patients with early gastric cancer according to the pretreatment clinical endoscopic submucosal resection indications. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with early gastric cancer that met the pretreatment endoscopic submucosal resection indications, from 2004 to 2011. Curative resection rate and proportion of out-of-indication cases were compared according to the pre-endoscopic submucosal resection indications. Pre-endoscopic submucosal resection factors associated with out-of-indication in the final pathological examination were analyzed. Results: Of 756 cases, 660 had absolute and 96 had expanded pre-endoscopic submucosal resection indications. The curative resection rate was significantly lower in the patients with expanded indications (64.6%) than in those with absolute indications (81.7%; P<0.001). The cases with expanded indications (30.2%) were revealed to be out-of-indication more frequently than the cases with absolute indications (13.8%; P<0.001). Age of >65 years, tumor size of >2 cm, tumor location in the upper-third segment of the stomach, and undifferentiated histological type in pre-endoscopic submucosal resection evaluations were significant risk factors for out-of-indication after endoscopic submucosal resection. Conclusions: Non-curative resection due to out-of-indication occurred in approximately one-third of the early gastric cancer cases that clinically met the expanded indications before endoscopic submucosal resection. The possibility of additional surgery should be empha-sized for patients with early gastric cancers that clinically meet the expanded indications.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.182-187
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• 2010

Purpose: Additional surgery is commonly recommended in gastric cancer patients who have a high risk of lymph node metastasis or a positive resection margin after endoscopic resection. We conducted this study to determine factors related to residual cancer and to determine the appropriate treatment strategy. Materials and Methods: A total of 28 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy due to non-curative endoscopic resection for early gastric cancer between January 2006 and June 2009 were enrolled in this study. Their clinicopathological findings were reviewed retrospectively and analyzed for residual cancer. Results: Of the 28 patients, surgical specimens showed residual cancers in eight cases (28.6%) and lymph node metastasis in one case (3.8%). Based on results of the endoscopic resection method, the rate of residual cancer was significantly different between the en-bloc resection group (17.4%) and the piecemeal resection group (80.0%). The rate of residual cancer was significantly different between the diffuse type group (100%) and the intestinal type group (20%). The rate of residual cancer in the positive lateral margin group (25.0%) was significantly lower than that in the positive vertical margin group (33.3%) or in the positive lateral and vertical margin group (66.7%). Conclusions: We recommended that patients who were lateral and vertical margin positive, had a diffuse type, or underwent piecemeal endoscopic resection, should be treated by surgery. Minimal invasive procedures can be considered for patients who were lateral margin positive and intestinal type through histopathological examination after en-bloc endoscopic resection.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2023

Background/Aims: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been established as a treatment modality for superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Long-term follow-up data are lacking in Western countries. The aim of this study was to analyze long-term survival in a Western center. Methods: Patients undergoing ESD for ESCC were included. The analysis was performed retrospectively using a prospectively collected database. Results: R0 resection rate was 96.7% (59/61 lesions in 58 patients). Twenty-seven patients (46.6%) fulfilled the curative resection criteria (M1/M2) (group A), 11 patients (19.0%) had M3 lesions without lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (group B), and 20 patients (34.5%) had lesions with submucosal invasion or LVI (group C). Additional treatment was recommended after non-curative resection. It was not performed in 20/31 patients (64.5%), mainly because of comorbidities (75%). Twenty-nine out of 58 (50.0%) patients died during a mean follow-up of 3.7 years. Death was related to ESCC in 17.2% (5/29) of patients. The disease-specific survival rate after curative resection was 100%. Overall survival rates after 5 years were 61.5%, 63.6% and 28.1% for groups A, B, and C, respectively. The overall survival was significantly worse after non-curative resection (p=0.038). Conclusions: Non-curative resection is frequent after ESD for ESCC in Western patients. The long-term prognosis is limited and mainly determined by comorbidity. Early diagnosis and pre-interventional assessments need to be improved.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2014

Endoscopic resection is the established treatment for early gastric cancer in selected patients with negligible risk of lymph node metastasis ('absolute indication'). Based on clinical observations and large pathological databases, expanding indications for endoscopic resection beyond absolute indication has been tried in Japan and Korea. However, controversies exist regarding the safety of treating early gastric cancer beyond absolute indication in terms of pathological evaluation of the resected specimen, definition of expanded indication, discrepancy between pre-endoscopic resection and post-endoscopic resection diagnoses of gastric neoplasm, and the best strategy for cases with non-curative resection. In this brief review, current evidence and clinical experience regarding issues of endoscopic resection beyond absolute indication will be summarized.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.368-378
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• 2021

Purpose: When patients with early gastric cancer (EGC) undergo non-curative endoscopic submucosal dissection requiring gastrectomy (NC-ESD-RG), additional medical resources and expenses are required for surgery. To reduce this burden, predictive model for NC-ESD-RG is required. Materials and Methods: Data from 2,997 patients undergoing ESD for 3,127 forceps biopsy-proven differentiated-type EGCs (2,345 and 782 in training and validation sets, respectively) were reviewed. Using the training set, the logistic stepwise regression analysis determined the independent predictors of NC-ESD-RG (NC-ESD other than cases with lateral resection margin involvement or piecemeal resection as the only non-curative factor). Using these predictors, a risk-scoring system for predicting NC-ESD-RG was developed. Performance of the predictive model was examined internally with the validation set. Results: Rate of NC-ESD-RG was 17.3%. Independent pre-ESD predictors for NC-ESD-RG included moderately differentiated or papillary EGC, large tumor size, proximal tumor location, lesion at greater curvature, elevated or depressed morphology, and presence of ulcers. A risk-score was assigned to each predictor of NC-ESD-RG. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for predicting NC-ESD-RG was 0.672 in both training and validation sets. A risk-score of 5 points was the optimal cut-off value for predicting NC-ESD-RG, and the overall accuracy was 72.7%. As the total risk score increased, the predicted risk for NC-ESD-RG increased from 3.8% to 72.6%. Conclusions: We developed and validated a risk-scoring system for predicting NC-ESD-RG based on pre-ESD variables. Our risk-scoring system can facilitate informed consent and decision-making for preoperative treatment selection between ESD and surgery in patients with EGC.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.339-347
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• 2022

Purpose: Lymphovascular invasion is a criterion for non-curative resection in patients who have undergone endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancer (EGC). We aimed to determine the rate of extragastric metastasis (EGM) and identify the predictors of EGM in patients with negative resection margins (R0 resection) and lymphovascular invasion in post-ESD pathology. Materials and Methods: A total of 2,983 patients underwent ESD for EGC. Among them, 110 had a pathology of R0 resection and positive lymphovascular invasion. Patients underwent additional gastrectomy (n=63) or further follow-up without gastrectomy (n=47). Results: The 110 patients were assigned to one of the 3 groups according to ESD indications based on post-ESD pathology. The first group satisfied the absolute indication for ESD (n=18), the second group satisfied the expanded indications for ESD (n=34), and the last group satisfied the beyond indication (n=58). The number of occurrences of EGM in each group was 1 (5.6%), 3 (8.8%), and 3 (5.2%), respectively. The logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, tumor size, and indication for ESD, showed that larger tumor size was associated with EGM (odds ratio, 1.76; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-3.10; P=0.048). In contrast, ESD indication criteria did not affect EGM (P=0.349). Conclusions: Tumor size was the only predictive indicator for EGM in patients who underwent R0 resection and lymphovascular invasion on post-ESD pathology. Even patients with pathology corresponding to the absolute indication criteria of ESD had lymphovascular invasion, which means that they require additional gastrectomy due to the risk of EGM.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.35-38
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• 2015

62-year-old patient who had past history of endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancer at September 2008, underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection of esophagus for early esophageal cancer at mid esophagus during health screening service. Because there was a high risk of lymph node metastasis at biopsy results, concurrent chemoradiotherapy was added to endoscopic submucosal dissection. There was a metachronous cancer at mid-esophagus at March 2013. He underwent endoscopic mucosal resection and photodynamic therapy. Concurrentchemoradiotherapy after endoscopic submucosal dissection is an effective treatment method.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.152-160
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• 2016

Purpose: Endoscopic diagnosis of gastric cancer (GC) that emerges after eradication of Helicobacter pylori may be affected by unique morphological changes. Using comprehensive endoscopic imaging, which can reveal biological alterations in gastric mucosa after eradication, previous studies demonstrated that Congo red chromoendoscopy (CRE) might clearly show an acid non-secretory area (ANA) with malignant potential, while autofluorescence imaging (AFI) without drug injection or dyeing may achieve early detection or prediction of GC. We aimed to determine whether AFI might be an alternative to CRE for identification of high-risk areas of gastric carcinogenesis after eradication. Materials and Methods: We included 27 sequential patients with metachronous GC detected during endoscopic surveillance for a mean of 82.8 months after curative endoscopic resection for primary GC and eradication. After their H. pylori infection status was evaluated by clinical interviews and $^{13}C$-urea breath tests, the consistency in the extension of corpus atrophy (e.g., open-type or closed-type atrophy) between AFI and CRE was investigated as a primary endpoint. Results: Inconsistencies in atrophic extension between AFI and CRE were observed in 6 of 27 patients, although CRE revealed all GC cases in the ANA. Interobserver and intraobserver agreements in the evaluation of atrophic extension by AFI were significantly less than those for CRE. Conclusions: We demonstrated that AFI findings might be less reliable for the evaluation of gastric mucosa with malignant potential after eradication than CRE findings. Therefore, special attention should be paid when we clinically evaluate AFI findings of background gastric mucosa after eradication (University Hospital Medical Information Network Center registration number: UMIN000020849).

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.172-184
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• 2024

Purpose: The original eCura system was designed to stratify the risk of lymph node metastasis (LNM) after endoscopic resection (ER) in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). We assessed the effectiveness of a modified eCura system for reflecting the characteristics of undifferentiated-type (UD)-EGC. Materials and Methods: Six hundred thirty-four patients who underwent non-curative ER for UD-EGC and received either additional surgery (radical surgery group; n=270) or no further treatment (no additional treatment group; n=364) from 18 institutions between 2005 and 2015 were retrospectively included in this study. The eCuraU system assigned 1 point each for tumors >20 mm in size, ulceration, positive vertical margin, and submucosal invasion <500 ㎛; 2 points for submucosal invasion ≥500 ㎛; and 3 points for lymphovascular invasion. Results: LNM rates in the radical surgery group were 1.1%, 5.4%, and 13.3% for the low-(0-1 point), intermediate- (2-3 points), and high-risk (4-8 points), respectively (P-fortrend<0.001). The eCuraU system showed a significantly higher probability of identifying patients with LNM as high-risk than the eCura system (66.7% vs. 22.2%; McNemar P<0.001). In the no additional treatment group, overall survival (93.4%, 87.2%, and 67.6% at 5 years) and cancer-specific survival (99.6%, 98.9%, and 92.9% at 5 years) differed significantly among the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk categories, respectively (both P<0.001). In the high-risk category, surgery outperformed no treatment in terms of overall mortality (hazard ratio, 3.26; P=0.015). Conclusions: The eCuraU system stratified the risk of LNM in patients with UD-EGC after ER. It is strongly recommended that high-risk patients undergo additional surgery.