Misconceptions on early gastric cancer in Japan

In Japan, gastric cancer is still the leading cause of death, although the mortality rate has recently been decreasing and early gastric cancer comprised half of all resected cancers. Recently, some interesting problems of early gastric cancer have been raised in Western literature. However, they seem to be different from Japanese experience or to include misconceptions of early gastric cancer in Japan. The purpose of this article is to mainly provide Western readers with the Japanese experience in early gastric cancer which may assist them in understanding its diversity.