Gastric cancer staging comparism and role of EUS

The tumor stage of gastric cancer in the preoperative period must be evaluated to choose the type of therapy so the preoperative imaging diagnosis is the basis for a tumor-stage -adapted therapy of each patient. Is to compare between the preoperative staging of gastric cancer which includes the ultrasound scan, CT scan and EUS findings and the postoperative staging which include the histopathological finding and to assess the efficacy of EUS in determining the tumor and lymph node stage of tumor. Prospective study of 32 patients with gastric cancer admitted to the surgical word in the gastroenterology and hepatology teaching hospital, medical city, Baghdad over the period from Nov. 2005 to Nov. 2007 who underwent gastric resection, all the cases were proved to be gastric cancer by endoscopic biopsy or by histopathological examination of the gastric specimen after operative resection, and all the cases radiologically investigated in the preoperative period by abdominal ultrasound, endoluminal ultrasound and abdominal CT scan. Show that there is increase in the staging in 18 [56.25%] cases and same staging in 8 [25%] cases and decrease staging in 6 [18.75%] cases. Endoluminal ultrasound is most accurate preoperative investigation to determine staging of gastric malignancy. Ultrasound and CT scan although it is important in the assessment but they downstage the tumor in about half of cases. So we recommend that EUS is done for all patients with gastric cancer for accurate planning for surgery