Natural History of Untreated Early Gastric Cancer

ABSTRACT

Early gastric cancer (EGC), which is defined as a lesion confined to the mucosa or the submucosal layer, regardless of metastasis to the lymph node, has a good prognosis than advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Because untreated EGC progresses to AGC, it is important to understand the natural history of EGC to determine the duration, prognosis, and treatment options and timing. However, the natural history of EGC remains unclear and different from AGC. We report a case of an untreated EGC patient who progressed to AGC with cancer perforation at 29 months after diagnosis and metastasized to peritoneum at 40 months after diagnosis.