Endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of upper gastrointestinal tumors.

Early diagnosis, endoscopic differentiation of benign from malignant lesions, and removal of clinically significant tumors are increasingly considered to be major topics of interest in the upper gastrointestinal tract. This interest is mainly due to the development of better imaging tools and new resection techniques that fulfill surgical criteria. At this year's Digestive Disease Week (DDW; 7-10 May 2011, Chicago, Illinois, USA), more than 500 abstracts were presented that focused on better imaging, training, safety issues, luminal stenting, and indications and results in endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). This review highlights a selection of clinically relevant reports of the upper gastrointestinal tract, excluding Barrett's esophagus, which is covered in a separate report. Related abstracts that are not discussed in this review can be found in the additional references of interest.