[Endoscopic resection in early gastric cancer]

Development of therapeutic endoscopy has permitted the treatment of early gastric cancer (EGC) in its different macroscopic forms. In this paper we present 9 cases of EGC treated endoscopically in our Institution. We describe the criteria we follow to perform this procedure. The patients selected were of advanced age and high surgical risk. Seven cases were macroscopically Type I and two were Type IIa. According to localization six were proximal tumors (body and fundus) and three were located in the antrum. Six of the nine patients are alive after resection, one more than 6 years and 3 more than 3 years. Three patients died of ailments no related to cancer.