Long-term outcomes after endoscopic submucosal dissection for differentiated-type early gastric cancer that fulfilled expanded indication criteria: A prospective cohort study.

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Background and AimEndoscopic resection for early gastric cancer (EGC) is widely performed. However, there is still a paucity of strong evidence regarding long‐term outcomes after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for the expanded indication criteria of the Japanese guidelines (ver. 2010).MethodsEndoscopic submucosal dissection was performed in patients with EGC that met the expanded indication criteria: (i) cT1a, differentiated‐type EGC of 2 to 5 cm, ulcer negative or (ii) cT1a, differentiated‐type EGC of ≤3 cm, ulcer positive. Patients whose pathological examination fulfilled the curative resection criteria were then enrolled in this cohort study: negative vertical margin, negative lymphovascular invasion, and (i) pT1a, differentiated‐type, and ulcer negative; (ii) pT1a, differentiated‐type, ≤3 cm, and ulcer positive; or (iii) pT1b1 (<500‐μm submucosal invasion), differentiated‐type, and ≤3 cm. Patients with only a positive horizontal margin as a noncurative factor were included for follow‐up.ResultsFrom September 2003 to February 2012, a total of 356 patients underwent ESD, and 214 were enrolled in the survival analysis. One hundred twenty patients (56%) had >2 cm in diameter and ulcer‐negative lesions, and 94 (44%) had ≤3 cm and ulcer‐positive lesions. The vital status at 5 years after ESD was confirmed in all (100%) patients. No local or metastatic recurrence was detected; however, 26 metachronous gastric cancers developed, and 1 patient died of metachronous gastric cancer. The 5‐year disease‐specific and overall survival rates were 99.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 97.2%–100%) and 93.9% (95% CI, 89.8%–96.4%), respectively.ConclusionESD for EGC that fulfills the expanded criteria is feasible and shows favorable long‐term outcomes.