ABSTRACT
Japanese gastric cancer treatment guidelines list options for treatment of each stage of early gastric cancer (EGC).The treatment of EGC is closely related to the lymph node metastasis, and the accurate prediction of lymph node metastasis is related to the choice of the treatment options and the prognosis of the patients.The lymph node metastasis of EGC is evaluated according to the clinicopathological factors, imaging,molecular markers and sentinel lymph node (SLN) tracer biopsy.A two-step method for the management of EGC treated with endoscopic mucosal resection/endoscopic submucosal dissection (EMR/ESD) is recommended.While for those EGC patients not suitable to receive EMR/ESD, imaging or molecular marker and SLN tracer biopsy technology are applied to determine lymph node status.