Endoscopic therapy for early colon cancer: the strip biopsy resection technique

Strip biopsy is an endoscopic tissue resection technique in which a lesion and its surrounding tissues are first elevated using physiological saline. The saline solution is injected into the submucosa at the site of the lesion with the help of needle forceps. A snare is placed around the elevated tissue, which is then resected endoscopically by electrocoagulation. The specimen obtained includes both submucosal and mucosal tissues. The authors used this technique to resect a total of 71 lesions of the colon. They were classified histologically as 21 adenocarcinomas, 46 adenomas, 3 metaplastic polyps, and 1 juvenile polyp. All lesions were confirmed to be entirely intramucosal by histological examination. The strip biopsy technique permits resection of tissue down to the submucosal layer regardless of the morphological type of the lesion. This suggests that strip biopsy is an effective new form of endoscopic treatment for early colon cancer.