Laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery in gastrointestinal tumors: current applications, oncologic...

With the rapid development of minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery, laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery (LECS) has emerged as a hybrid procedure that integrates the precision of endoscopic resection with the operative control of laparoscopy. By combining these complementary strengths, LECS enables complete local resection while maximizing preservation of organ function. This narrative review retrieved relevant guidelines, expert consensus statements, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and representative clinical studies published between January 2008 and March 2026. We analyzed the technical evolution, indications, efficacy, safety, and oncological issues of LECS, and further propose a clinical application framework covering patient selection, treatment decision-making, criteria for additional radical surgery, the learning curve, structured training, and the strength of global evidence. Current evidence suggests that, in carefully selected patients, LECS can achieve high en bloc and R0 resection rates, reduce unnecessary organ resection, and facilitate postoperative recovery. However, the level of evidence varies substantially among disease entities. Relatively well-established indications include gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), complex colorectal polyps, and selected superficial non-ampullary duodenal tumors, whereas its role in early gastric cancer remains exploratory and is largely limited to highly selected cases involving non-exposure techniques and sentinel lymph node navigation. Overall, LECS serves as an important bridge between endoscopic therapy and conventional surgical resection. Its broader implementation, however, remains limited by oncological uncertainty in malignant tumors, a steep learning curve, inter-center heterogeneity, differences in institutional readiness, and a lack of long-term, high-quality evidence.