Assessment of pre-operative serumIL-2Ralpha levels was performed on 86 patients with early gastric cancer treated by gastrectomies combined with D2 lymph node resections and 20 healthy controls at Samsung Medical Center. Data on patient age and gender, tumor size, depth of invasion, histologic differentiation, and endoscopic findings were reviewed post-operatively. The submucosal lesions were divided into three layers (sm1, sm2, and sm3) in accordance with the depth of invasion.