title: Circumstance of endoscopic and laparoscopic treatments for gastric cancer in Japan: A review of epidemiological studies using a national administrative database.
abstract: Currently, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) have become widely accepted and increasingly play important roles in the treatment of gastric cancer. Data from an administrative database associated with the diagnosis procedure combination (DPC) system have revealed some circumstances of ESD and LG in Japan. Some studies demonstrated that medical costs or length of stay of patients receiving ESD for gastric cancer had become significantly reduced while length of hospitalization and costs were significantly increased in older patients. With respect to LG, some recent reports have shown that this has been a cost-beneficial treatment for patients compared with open gastrectomy while simultaneous LG and cholecystectomy is a safe procedure for patients with both gastric cancer and gallbladder stones. These epidemiological studies using the administrative database in the DPC system closely reflect clinical circumstances of endoscopic and surgical treatment for gastric cancer in Japan. However, DPC database does not contain detailed clinical data such as histological types and lesion size of gastric cancer. The link between the DPC database and another detailed clinical database may be vital for future research into endoscopic and laparoscopic treatments for gastric cancer.
authors: Atsuhiko Murata, Shinya Matsuda, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu 807-8555, Japan.
authors: Atsuhiko
authors: A
authors: Murata
authors: Atsuhiko Murata, Shinya Matsuda, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu 807-8555, Japan.
authors: Shinya
authors: S
authors: Matsuda
keywords: Administrative database; Diagnosis Pro-cedure Combination; Endoscopic submucosal dissection; Epide-miological studies; Gastric cancer; Laparoscopic gastrectomy