Minimally invasive treatment of stomach cancer

The rate of detection of early gastric cancer has increased because of the development of diagnostic techniques, such as endoscopy, biopsy, and endoscopic ultrasonography. Recently, minimally invasive surgical procedures for benign gastric conditions have been advocated, and the laparoscopic approach is noted as a technique that increases the quality of life. However, the development of laparoscopic gastric resections and laparoscopically assisted gastric operations for malignancy still deserve a word of caution. Laparoscopic local resection of the stomach is used to treat mucosal cancer without lymph node metastasis, and laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy is used to treat early gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis in the perigastric portion. According to short-term results reported by a small group of surgeons, laparoscopic approaches for gastric cancer result in a minimally invasive approach, early recovery, and decreased morbidity and mortality. However, the longterm results of these less invasive treatments are not known in advanced gastric cancer. If the results of randomized controlled studies for advanced gastric cancer are confirmed, the use of these techniques will spread worldwide and may become a standard technique for the resection of gastric cancer.