title: Differences in Prevalence of Lymphovascular Invasion among Early Gastric Cancers between Korea and Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The presence of invasion is a diagnostic criterion of early gastric cancer (EGC) in Korea, whereas diagnosis in Japan is based on enlarged nuclei and prominent nucleoli. Moreover, the depth of invasion is the location of cancer cell infiltration in Korea, whereas it is the location of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) or cancer cell infiltration in Japan. We evaluated the characteristics of EGC with LVI to uncover the effects of different diagnostic criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive T1-stage EGC patients who underwent complete resection were included after endoscopic or surgical resection. The presence of LVI was evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  LVI was present in 112 of 1,089 T1-stage EGC patients. LVI was associated with depth of invasion (p<0.001) and age (p=0.017). The prevalence of LVI in mucosal cancer was significantly higher in Korea (p<0.001), whereas that of submucosal cancer was higher in Japan (p=0.024). For mucosal EGC types, LVI was positively correlated with diagnostic criteria applied in Korea (p=0.017). For submucosal EGC types, LVI was positively correlated with Japanese criteria (p=0.001) and old age (p=0.045).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The higher prevalence of LVI for mucosal EGC in Korea and for submucosal EGC in Japan indicates that different diagnostic criteria should be considered when reading publications from other countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Naohisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dohi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Pyo
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: In-Kyung
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Eigo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Otsuji
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chan Sup
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Seung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Pathology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naito
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
keywords: Depth; Early gastric cancer; Invasion; Stomach neoplasms