Efficacy and safety of endoscopic resection for gastric tube cancer after surgical resection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Gastric tube cancers (GTCs) are found frequently, even as the surgical outcomes of esophageal cancer improve. Diagnosing and treating early gastric tube cancer endoscopically has therefore become very important.

AIMS

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of endoscopic resection for GTC.

METHODS

We analyzed 29 patients (33 lesions) with metachronous GTC who underwent endoscopic resection from April 2005 to August 2016 and evaluated their clinical characteristics and the short-term outcomes of endoscopic resection.

RESULTS

All of the cases were identified by periodic examinations. The lesions were found a median of 6.5 years after surgery (range 9 months-19 years), with six lesions found more than 10 years later. Among the total of 33 lesions, 28 resulted in curative resections (85%), and five were non-curative resections because of lymphovascular invasion, submucosal deep invasion, histological type, and size. None had received additional treatment or had a local recurrence thus far. Regarding the complications, delayed perforation occurred in a case (3%) and precordial skin burn occurred in four cases (12%).

CONCLUSION

The safety and efficacy of endoscopic resection for gastric tube cancer were evaluated. Additionally, it is important to continue annual endoscopy even 5 years or more after esophageal surgery.