title: Evaluation of the margins of differentiated early gastric cancer by using conventional endoscopy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the determination of the margin of differentiated-type early gastric cancers by using conventional endoscopy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively evaluated 364 differentiated early gastric cancers that were endoscopically resected as en-bloc specimens and diagnosed pathologically in detail between November 2007 and October 2008. All procedures were done with conventional endoscopes and all endoscopic samples, before and after indigo carmine dye, were re-evaluated using a digital filing system by one endoscopist. We analyzed the incidence of lesions with unclear margins and the relationship between unclear margins and relevant clinicopathological findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rate of lesions with unclear margins was 20.6% (75/364). Multivariate regression analysis suggested that the factors that make the determination of the margin difficult were normal color, presence of components of flat area (0-IIb), a diameter ≥ 21 mm, ulceration, and components of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in the mucosal surface.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As many as 20% of differentiated early gastric cancers show unclear margins. Consideration of the factors associated with unclear margins may help endoscopists to accurately determine the margins of the lesion.
authors.affiliation: Shigetaka Yoshinaga, Ichiro Oda, Seiichiro Abe, Satoru Nonaka, Haruhisa Suzuki, Hajime Takisawa, Yutaka Saito, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigetaka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshinaga
authors.affiliation: Shigetaka Yoshinaga, Ichiro Oda, Seiichiro Abe, Satoru Nonaka, Haruhisa Suzuki, Hajime Takisawa, Yutaka Saito, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.affiliation: Shigetaka Yoshinaga, Ichiro Oda, Seiichiro Abe, Satoru Nonaka, Haruhisa Suzuki, Hajime Takisawa, Yutaka Saito, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Shigetaka Yoshinaga, Ichiro Oda, Seiichiro Abe, Satoru Nonaka, Haruhisa Suzuki, Hajime Takisawa, Yutaka Saito, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.affiliation: Shigetaka Yoshinaga, Ichiro Oda, Seiichiro Abe, Satoru Nonaka, Haruhisa Suzuki, Hajime Takisawa, Yutaka Saito, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruhisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Shigetaka Yoshinaga, Ichiro Oda, Seiichiro Abe, Satoru Nonaka, Haruhisa Suzuki, Hajime Takisawa, Yutaka Saito, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takisawa
authors.affiliation: Shigetaka Yoshinaga, Ichiro Oda, Seiichiro Abe, Satoru Nonaka, Haruhisa Suzuki, Hajime Takisawa, Yutaka Saito, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.affiliation: Shigetaka Yoshinaga, Ichiro Oda, Seiichiro Abe, Satoru Nonaka, Haruhisa Suzuki, Hajime Takisawa, Yutaka Saito, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
keywords: Conventional endoscopy; Determination of the margin; Early gastric cancer