[Early colorectal cancer]

Early colorectal cancer is situated at the field with a rich stock of topics in Japan. For this reason, there are increasing number of patients with colorectal cancer, many reports of depressed early cancer and rapid advances of molecular biology about colorectal neoplasm. Most of early colorectal cancers are discovered to be the protruded type by all accounts in spite that many cases of depressed type early cancer have been reported in many Japanese institutes. The final diagnosis of early colorectal cancer is usually made by histological examination after endoscopic resection, however invasive cancers with distinct endoscopic appearance of submucosal spread should be treated surgically from the beginning after diagnosis on biopsy specimens.