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Background: Although additional treatment is considered for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) invading into the muscularis mucosa (pT1a-MM) or submucosa (pT1b-SM) after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), the actual benefits of this method remain to be elucidated., Aims: We aimed to evaluate the prognostic benefits of additional treatment in such patients., Methods: Between 2006 and 2017, we enrolled patients with pT1a-MM/pT1b-SM ESCC after ESD at 21 institutions in Japan. Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were compared between the additional treatment and follow-up groups after propensity score matching, to reduce the bias of baseline characteristics. A subgroup analysis was performed according to the pathological findings: category A, pT1a-MM but negative for lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and vertical margin (VM); category B, tumor invasion into the submucosa ≤ 200 μm but negative for LVI and VM; category C, others., Results: Of 593 patients with pT1a-MM/pT1b-SM ESCC after ESD, 101 matched pairs were extracted after propensity score matching. The OSs were similar between the additional treatment and follow-up groups (80.6% vs. 78.6% in 5 years; P = 0.972). In a subgroup analysis, the OS in the additional treatment group was significantly lower than that in the follow-up group (65.7% vs. 95.2% in 5 years; P = 0.037) in category A, whereas OS did not significantly differ in category C (76.8% vs. 69.5% in 5 years; P = 0.360)., Conclusions: Additional treatment after ESD in patients with pT1a-MM/pT1b-SM ESCC was not associated with an improved prognosis., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: No studies have evaluated the relationship between lifestyle and synchronous gastric cancers (SGCs) in patients with endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancers (EGCs). Using data from the Tohoku gastrointestinal (GI) study, we aimed to identify factors associated with SGCs., Methods: Tohoku GI study is a multicenter prospective cohort study investigating the relationship between lifestyle and metachronous gastric cancers. Patients who had a schedule to undergo ESD for primary EGCs were enrolled. We used logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship of 15 candidate factors, including lifestyle, with the prevalence of SGCs in this study., Results: Of 850 patients between 2016 and 2019, 16.0% (136 patients) had SGCs. In multivariate analysis, smoking history (odds ratio [OR], 1.93; p = 0.048) and severe atrophic gastritis assessed by pepsinogen (OR, 1.92; p = 0.004) were risk factors for the prevalence of SGCs. Regarding smoking, current smoking (OR, 2.33; p = 0.021), but not former smoking (OR, 1.76; p = 0.098), was a significant risk factor for its prevalence. In the stratified analysis, severe atrophic gastritis assessed by pepsinogen was a risk factor in patients without Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication (OR, 2.10; p = 0.002), but not a risk factor in those with H. pylori eradication (OR, 0.75; p = 0.737)., Conclusion: Smoking history was a risk factor for the prevalence of SGCs in patients with ESD for EGCs, and severe atrophic gastritis assessed by pepsinogen was also a risk factor when H. pylori was not eradicated., (© 2023. Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.)

Objectives: Limited information is available on the efficacy and safety of endoscopic resection (ER) of gastric submucosal tumors (SMTs) in Japanese endoscopic practice where ER for gastric tumors is extremely popular., Methods: We conducted this study to elucidate the current scenario of ER for gastric SMTs in Japanese endoscopic practice. Patients (from 12 institutions) with gastric SMTs who underwent ER were enrolled from the first case until August 2020., Results: We enrolled 117 patients with 118 lesions. The number of patients who underwent ER increased over the years. The mean endoscopic tumor size was 20 ± 7.2 (8-40) mm. The growth type was primarily intraluminal (90%). The mean resection and wound closure times were 58 ± 38 (range, 12-254) min and 31 ± 41 (range, 3-330) min, respectively. Complete ER was achieved for 117 (99%) lesions. Full-thickness resection rate was 44%; however, only 12 (10%) patients required abdominal paracentesis for decompression. Endoscopic treatments were completed in 115 (97%) lesions, while three lesions required conversions to laparoscopic surgery due to luminal collapse, uncontrolled bleeding, and difficulty in defect closure. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors were the most common pathology (74%). No recurrence was observed during the mean follow-up period of 4.3 ± 2.9 years. The 5-year overall survival rate was 98.9% (95% confidence interval 97.8-100%)., Conclusion: Performance of ER for gastric SMTs is increasing in Japan. The technique seems feasible in Japanese endoscopic practice, warranting further validation in a prospective study., (© 2022 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.)

Objectives: We aimed to clarify the prognostic factors for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) invading into the muscularis mucosa (pT1a-MM) or submucosa (pT1b-SM) after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)., Methods: This retrospective study enrolled such patients at 21 institutions in Japan between 2006 and 2017. We evaluated 15 factors, including pathological risk categories for ESCC-specific mortality, six non-cancer-related indices, and treatment strategies., Results: In the analysis of 593 patients, the 5-year overall and disease-specific survival rates were 83.0% and 97.6%, respectively. In a multivariate Cox analysis, male sex (hazard ratio [HR] 3.56), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) ≥3 (HR 2.53), ages of 75-79 (HR 1.61) and ≥80 years (HR 2.04), prognostic nutrition index (PNI) <45 (HR 1.69), and pathological intermediate-risk (HR 1.63) and high-risk (HR 1.89) were prognostic factors. Subsequently, we developed a clinical risk classification for non-ESCC-related mortality based on the number of prognostic factors (age ≥75 years, male sex, CCI ≥3, PNI <45): low-risk, 0; intermediate-risk, 1-2; and high-risk, 3-4. The 5-year non-ESCC-related mortality rates for patients without additional treatment were 0.0%, 10.2%, and 45.8% in the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups, respectively. Meanwhile, the 5-year ESCC-specific mortality rates for the pathological low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups were 0.3%, 5.3%, and 18.2%, respectively., Conclusions: We clarified prognostic factors for patients with pT1a-MM/pT1b-SM ESCC after ESD. The combined assessment of non-ESCC- and ESCC-related mortalities by the two risk classifications might help clinicians in deciding treatment strategies for such patients., (© 2022 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.)

Background: We aimed to elucidate the risk of metastatic recurrence after endoscopic resection (ER) without additional treatment for esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs) with tumor invasion into the muscularis mucosa (pT1a-MM) or submucosa (T1b-SM)., Methods: We retrospectively enrolled patients with pT1a-MM/pT1b-SM ESCC after ER at 21 institutions in Japan between 2006 and 2017. We compared metastatic recurrence between patients with and without additional treatment, stratified into category A (pT1a-MM with negative lymphovascular invasion [LVI] and vertical margin [VM]), B (tumor invasion into the submucosa ≤ 200 µm [pT1b-SM1] with negative LVI and VM), and C (others). Subsequently, using multivariate Cox analysis, we evaluated risk factors for metastatic recurrence after ER without additional treatment., Results: We enrolled 593 patients, and metastatic recurrence occurred in 38 patients. Metastatic recurrence after additional treatment was significantly lower than that after no additional treatment in category C (9.1% vs. 23.6% in 5 years, p = 0.001), whereas no significant difference was noted in categories A (0.0% vs. 2.6%) and B (0.0% vs. 4.3%). In patients without additional treatment after ER, risk factors for metastatic recurrence were lymphatic invasion (hazard ratio [HR], 5.61), positive VM (HR, 4.55), and tumor invasion into the submucosa > 200 μm (HR, 3.25), and, but near half of the patients with metastatic recurrence had no further recurrence after salvage treatment, resulting in excellent 5-year disease-specific survival in categories A (99.6%) and B (100.0%)., Conclusions: Closed follow-up with no additional treatment may be an acceptable option after ER in pT1a-MM/pT1b-SM1 ESCC with negative LVI and VM., (© 2021. Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.)

Background and Aim: Colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is recommended to be carried out only by endoscopists with sufficient experience in gastric ESD. However, early gastric carcinoma is less common in Western countries than in Japan, and endoscopic maneuverability differs between the stomach and colorectum. We assessed the feasibility of colorectal ESD carried out by endoscopists with no or little experience in gastric ESD., Methods: We analyzed en bloc resection, R0 resection and perforation rates in 180 consecutive colorectal ESD carried out by three endoscopists who had no or <5 cases of experience in gastric ESD. We also identified factors associated with R0 resection failure., Results: Overall en bloc and R0 resection rates were 93.3% (168/180) and 82.2% (148/180), respectively. All 11 cases with perforation were treated endoscopically. Dividing 180 cases into three learning phases (early, middle, or late phases), the en bloc and R0 resection rates increased from 88.3% and 75.0% in the early phase to 98.3% and 88.3% in the late phase, respectively. Perforation rate also improved from 10.0% to 3.3%. Factors associated with R0 resection failure were location at junctions (odds ratio: 6.8, 95% CI: 1.9-27.5), preoperative factors reflecting fibrosis (5.8, 1.9-19.0), and late phase (0.2, 0.1-0.7)., Conclusion: Endoscopists without experience in gastric ESD carried out colorectal ESD safely. In the early and middle phases (≤40 cases), they should treat mainly rectal lesions but may also resect lesions in the colon avoiding flexures. Lesions located at junctions and those with preoperative factors reflecting fibrosis should be resected after completing 40 procedures., (© 2017 The Authors. Digestive Endoscopy © 2017 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.)