• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제1권3호
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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.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권13호
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• pp.5371-5375
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• 2014

Background: An accurate assessment of potential lymph node metastasis is important for the appropriate treatment of early gastric cancers. Therefore, this study analyzed predictive factors associated with lymph node metastasis and identified differences between mucosal and submucosal gastric cancers. Materials and Methods: A total of 518 early gastric cancer patients who underwent radical gastrectomy were reviewed in this study. Clinicopathological features were analyzed to identify predictive factors for lymph node metastasis. Results: The rate of lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer was 15.3% overall, 3.3% for mucosal cancer, and 23.5% for submucosal cancer. Using univariate analysis, risk factors for lymph node metastasis were identified as tumor location, tumor size, depth of tumor invasion, histological type and lymphovascular invasion. Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size >2 cm, submucosal invasion, undifferentiated tumors and lymphovascular invasion were independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis. When the carcinomas were confined to the mucosal layer, tumor size showed a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis. On the other hand, histological type and lymphovascular invasion were associated with lymph node metastasis in submucosal carcinomas. Conclusions: Tumor size >2 cm, submucosal tumor, undifferentiated tumor and lymphovascular invasion are predictive factors for lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer. Risk factors are quite different depending on depth of tumor invasion. Endoscopic treatment might be possible in highly selective cases.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.165-175
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• 2020

Purpose: The guidelines for pathological evaluation of early gastric cancer (EGC) recommend wider section intervals for surgical specimens (5-7 mm) than those for endoscopically resected specimens (2-3 mm). Studies in surgically resected EGC specimens showed not negligible lymph node metastasis risks in EGCs meeting the expanded criteria for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 401 EGC lesions with an endoscopic size of ≤ 30 mm detected in 386 patients. Pathological specimens obtained by ESD or surgery were cut into 2-mm section intervals for reference. Submucosal or lymphovascular invasion (LVI) was evaluated arbitrarily in 4- or 6-mm section intervals. McNemar's tests compared the differences between submucosal and LVI. Results: Submucosal invasion was detected in 29.2% (117/401) and LVI in 9.5% (38/401) at 2-mm interval. The submucosal invasion detection rates in 4-mm intervals decreased to 88.0% or 90.6% (both P<0.001), while the LVI detection rates decreased to 86.8% or 57.9% (P=0.025 and P<0.001, respectively). In 6-mm intervals, the submucosal and LVI detection rates decreased further to 72.7-80.3% (P<0.001 for all three sets) and 55.3-63.2% (P<0.001 for all three sets), respectively. Among 150 out-of-indication cases at 2-mm interval, 4-10 (2.7%-6.7%) at 4-mm intervals, and 10-17 (6.7%-11.3%) at 6-mm intervals were misclassified as lesions meeting the curative resection criteria due to the underestimation of submucosal or LVI. Conclusions: After ESD, the 2-mm wide section interval was suitable for the pathological evaluation of focal submucosal or LVI. Thus, if an EGC lesion meets the expanded criteria for the ESD specimen pathological evaluation, it could be safely followed up.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.204-206
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• 2014

Gastric complications following unintentional foreign body ingestion are extremely rare. Here, we report the case of a 59-year-old healthy woman who presented with nonspecific abdominal pain and an apparent gastric submucosal tumor that was incidentally detected by gastrofiberscopy. The patient underwent laparoscopic surgery, which revealed an intact gastric wall with no tumor invasion, deformity, or evidence of a gastric submucosal lesion. However, an impacted fish bone was found.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제22권4호
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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.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• 제51권6호
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• pp.527-533
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• 2018

There have been many advances in endoscopic imaging technologies. Magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging is an innovative optical technology that enables the precise discrimination of structural changes on the mucosal surface. Several studies have demonstrated its usefulness and superiority for tumor detection and differential diagnosis in the stomach as compared with conventional endoscopy. Furthermore, magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging has the potential to predict the invasion depth and tumor margins during gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection. Classifications of the findings of magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging based on microvascular and pit patterns have been proposed and have shown excellent correlations with invasion depth confirmed by microscopy. In terms of tumor margin prediction, magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging offers superior delineation of gastric tumor margins compared with traditional chromoendoscopy with indigo carmine. The limitations of narrow-band imaging, such as the need for considerable training, long procedure time, and lack of studies about its usefulness in undifferentiated cancer, should be resolved to confirm its value as a complementary method to endoscopic submucosal dissection. However, the role of magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging is expected to increase steadily with the increasing use of endoscopic submucosal dissection for the treatment of gastric tumors.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.93-97
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• 2013

Purpose: Endoscopic submucosal dissection has recently been practiced on a differentiated type of early gastric cancer. However, there is no clear evidence for endoscopic treatments of signet ring cell carcinoma. The aim of this study is to identify the predictive clinicopathological factors for lymph node metastasis in signet ring cell carcinoma for assisting endoscopic submucosal dissection trials. Materials and Methods: A total of 186 patients with early signet ring cell carcinoma who underwent radical curative gastrectomy between January 2001 and September 2009 were enrolled in this study. Retrospective reviews of their medical records are being conducted. Several clinicopathologic factors were being investigated in order to identify predictive factors for lymph nodes metastasis: age, gender, tumor size, type of operation, tumor location, gross type, ulceration, Lauren's classification, depth of invasion, and lymphatic invasion. Results: The lymph node metastasis rate for signet ring cell carcinoma was 4.3% (n=8). Of the 186 lesions with early signet ring cell carcinoma, 91 (48.9%) tumors were larger than 15 mm in size and 40 (21.5%) showed submucosal invasions in the resection specimens. In multivariate analysis, only the lymphatic invasion (P<0.0001) showed an association with lymph node metastasis. To evaluate cutoff values for tumor sizes in the presence of lymph node metastasis, early signet ring cell carcinomas with lymphatic invasions were excluded. In the absence of lymphatic invasion, mucosal cancer with tumor sizes <15 mm had no lymph node metastasis. Conclusions: Endoscopic submucosal dissection can be performed on patients with early signet ring cell carcinoma limited to the mucosa and less than 15 mm.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.426-438
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• 2021

Purpose: While the incidence of Barrett's neoplasia has been increasing in Western countries, the disease remains rare in Asian countries. Therefore, very few studies have investigated the endoscopic treatment for Barrett's neoplasia in Korea. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) enables en bloc and complete resection of gastrointestinal neoplastic lesions. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic outcomes of ESD for Barrett's neoplasia in a single center in Korea and to examine the predictive factors for incomplete resection. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of 18 patients who underwent ESD for superficial Barrett's neoplasia (dysplasia and early cancer) between January 2010 and December 2019 at Pusan National University Hospital. The therapeutic outcomes of ESD and procedure-related complications were analyzed. Results: En bloc resection, complete resection, and curative resection were performed in 94%, 72%, and 61% of patients, respectively. Histopathology (submucosal or deeper invasion of the tumor) was a significant predictive factor for incomplete resection (P=0.047). Procedure-related bleeding and stenosis were not observed, whereas perforation occurred in one case. During the median follow-up period of 12 months (range, 6-74 months), local recurrence occurred in 2 patients with incomplete resection, one patient underwent repeat ESD, and the other patient received concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The 3-year overall and disease-specific survival rates were 73% and 93%, respectively. Conclusions: ESD seems to be an effective and safe treatment for superficial Barrett's neoplasia in Korea. Nevertheless, the suitability of ESD for Barrett's cancer cases should be determined considering the high risk of deep submucosal invasion.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• 제56권1호
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• pp.114-118
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• 2023

Gastric wall abscess, a localized form of phlegmonous gastritis, is a rare complication of endoscopic resection. We report the first case of gastric wall abscess developing after endoscopic submucosal dissection in Korea. A 72-year-old woman visited our clinic to receive treatment for gastric adenoma. The patient successfully underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection with no complications. The final diagnosis was well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. We performed follow-up endoscopy 10 weeks later and found a large subepithelial lesion on the posterior wall of the gastric antrum. Abdominal computed tomography revealed hypodense wall thickening and a 5 cm heterogenous multilobular mass in the submucosal layer of the gastric antrum. Submucosal invasion with mucin-producing adenocarcinomas could therefore not be excluded. The patient agreed to undergo additional gastrectomy due to the possibility of a highly malignant lesion. The final diagnosis was acute suppurative inflammation with the formation of multiple abscesses in the mural layers and omentum. The patient was discharged with no complications.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• 제56권1호
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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.