Metachronous Cancer in the Stomach Remnant

Excerpt

Despite a rapid drop in the incidence of gastric cancer in the United States, northwestern Europe, and other countries, gastric cancer continues to be a major health problem in Japan, Korea, China, and other Asian countries. In an effort to improve survival and cure rates, Japan has established endoscopic screening programs. As a result, more than 50% of patients with early gastric cancer are diagnosed and so have an excellent prognosis. Appropriate surgery alone or endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) after meeting certain criteria not only improve cure rates but also provide a good quality of life. Despite the relatively low risk of metachronous distant metastasis, however, the risk of local recurrence in the stomach remnant after limited surgery or ESD for early gastric cancer may be substantial. …