Endoscopic Screening for Remnant Gastric Cancer: Points to be Considered.
OBJECTIVE
It is difficult to detect early gastric cancer (EGC) during endoscopic surveillance because the remnant stomach is usually deformed after surgical resection and the mucosa at the gastric stump are changed due to bile reflux. In this study, we aimed to determine the characteristic endoscopic findings of cancer in the remnant stomach.


METHODS
Fifty-five remnant gastric cancer (RGC) patients were classified into three groups according to location and elapsed time after surgery. Among 32 RGCs that developed less than 10 years after surgery, 21 lesions were located close to the anastomosis site (recurrent cancers), whereas 11 lesions were not (residual cancers). Twenty-three cancers developed at least 10 years after surgery (newly developed cancers). The endoscopic features were compared among these groups.


RESULTS
Most patients (29/32, 91%) with residual or recurrent cancer developed their tumors within five years after surgery, and the proportion of EGC was 43.8% (14/32). However, 91.3% (21/23) of newly developed cancers were advanced gastric cancers. When classified according to the Japanese classification system for EGC, 71% (5/7) of the residual cancers were of the elevated type, whereas 86% (6/7) of the recurrent cancers were of the depressed type (p=0.00).


CONCLUSIONS
During the first 5 years after subtotal gastrectomy, endoscopists should mainly try to find depressed lesions on the anastomosis site as well as elevated lesions on the non-anastomosis site.
Park
Jung Ho
JH
Department of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Jun Haeng
JH
Rhee
Poong-Lyul
PL
Kim
Jae J
JJ
Rhee
Jong Chul
JC
Kim
Sung
S
Park
Cheol Keun
CK