[Standardization of the endoscopic treatment for early gastric cancer]

With the increasing incidence of early gastric cancer, endoscopic treatment has been widely used. It has also played an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer. Therefore, it is very important to carry out standardized treatment with endoscopy. In theory, endoscopic resection can be performed in early gastric cancers which have no lymph node metastasis and also can be resected completely. Endoscopic therapy is absolutely indicated in macroscopically intramucosal differentiated carcinomas (pT1a) without ulcer or ulcer scar and with diameter ≤2 cm. The expanded indications are: (1) macroscopically intramucosal differentiated carcinomas (pT1a) without ulcer and with diameter >2 cm; (2) macroscopically intramucosal differentiated carcinomas (pT1a) with ulcer and with diameter ≤2 cm; (3) macroscopically intramucosal undifferentiated carcinomas (pT1a) without ulcer and with diameter ≤2 cm. Methods of preoperative evaluation include endoscopy, CT, and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). For tumor size greater than 3 cm and undifferentiated lesions, evaluation should be carried out carefully in order to avoid the underestimation of T staging. During endoscopic surgery, the extent, nature, and depth of the lesion should be clearly defined again, if necessary, assisted by staining endoscopy. In order to avoid complications such as bleeding and perforation, stanch bleeding and aspiration of gas should be performed promptly during the operation. After endoscopic resection, when pathology reveals positive margin of resected specimen, lesions invading deep submucosa, vascular involvement or peri-gastric lymph node metastasis, additional surgery should be recommended. Even if the patients have been evaluated as radical treatment, close follow-up is still necessary. Only when surgeons strictly obey the indications of endoscopic treatment, make the accurate evaluations for the patients before operation, undergo endoscopic operation carefully, and perform the follow up closely, the patients can be benefit from endoscopic therapy really.