[Controversy in the treatment of superficial esophageal carcinoma--indications and problems of the procedures].

In our institution, 152 cases have been treated, which are 24.3% of total 626 cases with esophageal carcinomas. Analysis of these 152 cases revealed that neither intraepithelial cancer (ep), nor mm2 cancer, in which the lesion is limited within the upper two-thirds of the proper mucosal layer, had any vessels invasion and lymph node metastases. In addition, only 25% of the cases with mm3 cancer, limited within the deeper one-third of the proper mucosal layer, had vessels invasion without lymph node metastases. The 5-year survival of the cases less than sm1 was as good as 100%. However, those of sm2 and sm3 patients were 58.9% and 54.2%, respectively. Thus, we made the treatment strategy for superficial esophageal cancer as follows: 1. For ep to mm2 cases, endoscopic mucosal resection could be applied. 2. For the cases whose lesions widely spread in the esophagus, blunt resection would be indicated. 3. For the cases with mm3 to sm3 cancer, thoracotomy and laparotomy with wide lymph node dissection from neck to abdomen should be employed. Since a radical operation for esophageal cancer has high operative risk and poor postoperative quality of life, we should properly pick up and apply more cases with mucosal carcinoma for endoscopic mucosal resection.