The clinical significance and management of noncurative endoscopic resection in early gastric cancer

Nowadays, endoscopic mucosal resection or endoscopic submucosal dissection has shown effectiveness equivalent to that of gastrectomy and has emerged as a popular technique for curative treatment of gastric cancer. However, noncurative resection or resection beyond the indication may lead to lymphatic and extended organ metastasis resulting in loss of the opportunity for full recovery. Therefore, it is an important issue to decide the range of curative resection in the endoscopic resection field. Furthermore, management of noncurative endoscopic resection in early gastric cancer is also important. The most favorable treatment after noncurative resection would be surgery. However, other noninvasive treatments such as argon plasma coagulation, additional endoscopic resection and close observation for recurrence are thought to be the optional treatments after the noncurative resection. In the future, prospective research studies and observations are expected to verify the effectiveness of noninvasive treatments.