Indication for Curative Endoscopic Mucosal Resection for Early Gastric Cancer: Analysis of 290 Surgical Cases

In the present study, lymph node metastasis and incontinuous invasion were evaluated in 290 gastrectomy cases of early gastric cancer. All mucosal cancers (m-cancers) were free of lymph node metastasis whereas 24.4% of submucosal cancers (sm-cancers) showed the metastasis. Grossly, lymph node metastasis was absent in elevated lesions of 20 mm or less in size, depressed lesions of 10 mm or less, and all flat lesions; histologically, well differentiated lesions of 20 mm or less and moderately or poorly differentiated lesions of 10 mm or less. Among 34 cases with the main lesion of 20 mm or less, regardless of the gross and histologic types, incontinuous invasion was located within 2 mm from the main lesion in 97.1%.