The frequency of lymph node metastasis in early-stage adenocarcinoma of the esophagus with incipient submucosal invasion (pT1b sm1) depending on histological risk patterns

Background A prerequisite for endoscopic treatment (ET) of not only mucosal, but also submucosal early adenocarcinoma of the esophagus (EAC) would be a rate of lymph node (LN) metastasis below the mortality rate of esophagectomy (2–5 %). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the rate of LN metastasis in patients with pT1b sm1 EAC.