ABSTRACT
Objective@#To evaluate the feasibility of expanded indication for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in undifferentiated early gastric cancer, to investigate the risk factors of lymph node metastasis (LNM), so as to provide the theoretical evidence for the choice of treatment.@*Methods@#From June 2007 to December 2018, at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, the clinical and pathological data of 807 patients with undifferentiated early gastric cancer and undergoing gastrectomy plus lymphadenectomy were retrospectively analyzed. Chi-square test was performed to analyze the correlation between clinicopathologic characteristics of early gastric cancer and LNM. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the independent risk factor of LNM.@*Results@#LNM was found in 17.2% (139/807) patients with undifferentiated early gastric cancer. And no LNM was detected in 110 patients who met the expanded indication of ESD. The results of univariate analysis indicated that LNM was significantly associated with increased carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), tumour size, gross type, ulcer, invasion depth, lymphovascular invasion and perineural invasion (χ2=4.500, 13.332, 16.611, 6.083, 51.064, 0.564 and 17.006, all P<0.05). The results of multivariate analysis demonstrated that the maximum diameter of tumor over 20 mm (odds ratio (OR)=1.606, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.021 to 2.526, P=0.040), lymphovascular invasion (OR=16.835, 95%CI 10.510 to 26.966, P<0.01), the depth of submucosal superficial invasion (≤500 μm ; OR=1.962, 95%CI 1.022 to 3.765, P=0.043) and the depth of submucosal deep invasion (>500 μm ; OR=3.014, 95%CI 1.753 to 5.181, P<0.01) were independent risk factors of LNM in early gastric cancer.@*Conclusions@#The expanded ESD indication of undifferentiated early gastric cancer is applicable for endoscopic treatment considering the low risk of LNM. In early undifferentiated gastric cancer, maximum diameter of tumor over 20 mm, lymphovascular invasion, submucosal superficial and deep invasion are the independent risk factors of LNM.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Early gastric cancer (EGC) that is undifferentiated or shows submucosal invasion has not been generally accepted as an indication for endoscopic treatment. But recently, experiences with endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for undifferentiated EGC or submucosal invasive (SM) EGC have increased. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes of ESD for EGC with undifferentiation or submucosal invasion. METHODS: Between August 2005 and August 2009, among 210 EGCs treated using ESD at our hospital, 18 lesions were diagnosed as undifferentiated gastric cancer and 41 as SM gastric cancer. A retrospective analysis was done on the medical records of these patients. RESULTS: Mean follow-up periods were 19.39+/-11.2 months. During the follow-up period, local recurrence was noted in 4 lesions. Local recurrence rates of the EGC groups (group 1, mucosal cancer with undifferentiation; group 2, SM cancer with differentiation; group 3, SM cancer with undifferentiation) were 10%, 4.5%, and 50%, respectively. Groups 1 and 2 were not significantly different in local recurrence rates compared to the mucosal cancer with differentiation group (p=0.061, p=0.125, respectively). The undifferentiated EGC group was significantly lower in curability using ESD than the differentiated EGC group (55.6% vs. 89.6%, p=0.000). The curability of the SM EGC group was lower than the mucosal EGC group (36.6% vs. 98.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Complete resection using ESD is difficult in undifferentiated and SM gastric cancers. SM cancer with undifferentiation should be treated immediately by salvage operation. For mucosal cancer with undifferentiation or SM cancer with differentiation, one should consider careful short-term follow-up.