Treatment strategy for gastric non-invasive intraepithelial neoplasia diagnosed by endoscopic biopsy

Treatment strategies,whether as follow-up or"total incisional biopsy"for gastric noninvasive intraepithelial neoplasia diagnosed by examination of an endoscopic forceps biopsy specimen,are controversial due to problems associated with the diagnostic accuracy of endoscopic forceps biopsy and questions about the safety and efficacy of endoscopic treatment.Based on the histological findings of the biopsy specimen,it is difficult to differentiate between reactive or regenerative changes,inflammation and neoplastic changes,intraepithelial and invasive tumors.Therefore,gastric neoplasia diagnosed as noninvasive intraepithelial often develop into invasive carcinoma during follow-up.Recent advances in endoscopic modalities and treatment devices,such as image-enhanced endoscopy and highfrequency generators,may make endoscopic treatment,such as endoscopic submucosal dissection(ESD),a therapeutic option for gastric intraepithelial neoplasia,including low-grade neoplasms.Future studies are required to evaluate whether ESD is a valid strategy for gastric intraepithelial neoplasm with regard to safety and cost effectiveness.

Choroidal and cutaneous metastasis from gastric adenocarcinoma

Choroidal or cutaneous metastasis of gastric cancer is rare. Gastrointestinal cancer was found in only 4% in patients with uveal metastasis. Choroidal metastasis from gastric cancer was reported in two cases in earlier literature. The frequency of gastric cancer as a primary lesion was 6% in cutaneous metastasis of men, and cutaneous metastasis occurs in 0.8% of all gastric cancers. We report a patient with gastric adenocarcinoma who presented with visual disorder in his left eye and skin pain on his head as his initial symptoms. These symptoms were diagnosed to be caused by choroidal and cutaneous metastasis of gastric adenocarcinoma. Two cycles of chemotherapy consisted of oral S-1 and intravenous cisplatin (SPIRITS regimen); this was markedly effective to reduce the primary gastric lesion and almost all the metastatic lesions.

Esophageal early basaloid squamous carcinoma with unusual narrowband imaging magnified endoscopy findings

Basaloid squamous carcinoma(BSC)is a rare variant of esophageal cancer.There are very few reports of"early"BSC.Here we report a case of early BSC with unusual findings by narrowband imaging magnified endoscopy(NBI-ME).A 70-year-old man with a middle thoracic esophageal tumor was referred to our hospital.White-light endoscopy revealed a reddish depressed lesion 5 mm in diameter having a subepithelial tumor-like prominence with a gentle rising slope.NBI-ME revealed irregular loop-shaped microvessels coexistent with thick irregularly branched non-looped vessels.Iodine staining revealed a pale brown lesion.We performed endoscopic submucosal dissection for diagnostic treatment.Histologic examination showed the proliferation of basal cell-like hyperchromatic tumor cells in the lamina propria and with slight invasion into the submucosa at a depth of 320μm.The tumor cells formed solid nests and microcystic structures,containing an Alcian blue-positive mucoid matrix.The surface was covered with squamous epithelium without cellular atypia.Thin vessels were observed in the intra-epithelial papilla and thick vessels were observed around the solid nests beneath the epithelium.Based on these findings together,we diagnosed the lesion as BSC.In this case,the NBI-ME findings differed from those of typical squamous cell carcinoma in that both non-invasive cancer-like irregular loop-shaped microvessels coexisted with massively invasive cancerlike thick non-looped vessels.We speculate that the looped and non-looped vessels observed by NBI-ME histologically corresponded to thin vessels in the intraepithelial papilla and thick vessels around the tumor nests,respectively.These NBI-ME findings might be a feature of early esophageal BSC.

Endoscopic submucosal dissection in early gastric cancer in elderly patients and comorbid conditions

The prognosis of early gastric cancer(EGC) is good if there is no concomitant lymph node metastasis. Therefore, the early detection of EGC is important to improve the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. In Japan, 40% to 50% of all gastric cancers are EGC, and endoscopic submucosal dissection(ESD) is widely accepted as a local treatment for these lesions, particularly for large lesions that at one time were an indication for gastrectomy because of the difficulty of en-bloc resection. Consequently, this procedure can preserve the entire stomach and the patient's postoperative quality of life. ESD has become a general technique with improved procedures and devices, and has become the preferred treatment for EGC rather than gastrectomy. Therefore, ESD may demonstrate many advantages in patients who have several comorbidities, particularly elderly population, patients taking antithrombotic agents, or patients with chronic kidney disease, or liver cirrhosis. However, it is not yet clear whether patients with both EGC and comorbidities are feasible candidates for ESD and whether they would consequently be able to achieve a survival benefit after ESD. In this review, we discuss the clinical problems of ESD in patients with EGC and those comorbid conditions.

Endoscopic surveillance strategy after endoscopic resection for early gastric cancer

Early detection of early gastric cancer(EGC)is important to improve the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.Recent advances in endoscopic modalities and treatment devices,such as image-enhanced endoscopy and high-frequency generators,may make endoscopic treatment,such as endoscopic submucosal dissection,a therapeutic option for gastric intraepithelial neoplasia.Consequently,short-term outcomes of endoscopic resection(ER)for EGC have improved.Therefore,surveillance with endoscopy after ER for EGC is becoming more important,but how to perform endoscopic surveillance after ER has not been established,even though the follow-up strategy for more advanced gastric cancer has been outlined.Therefore,a surveillance strategy for patients with EGC after ER is needed.

Clinical problems with antithrombotic therapy for endoscopic submucosal dissection for gastric neoplasms

Endoscopic submucosal dissection(ESD) is minimally invasive and thus has become a widely accepted treatment for gastric neoplasms,particularly for patients with comorbidities.Antithrombotic agents are used to prevent thrombotic events in patients with comorbidities such as cardio-cerebrovascular diseases and atrial fibrillation.With appropriate cessation,antithrombotic therapy does not increase delayed bleeding in low thrombosis-risk patients.However,high thrombosisrisk patients are often treated with combination therapy with antithrombotic agents and occasionally require the continuation of antithrombotic agents or heparin bridge therapy(HBT) in the perioperative period.Dual antiplatelet therapy(DAPT),a representative combination therapy,is frequently used after placement of drug-eluting stents and has a high risk of delayed bleeding.In patients receiving DAPT,gastric ESD may be postponed until DAPT is no longer required.HBT is often required for patients treated with anticoagulants and has an extremely high bleeding risk.The continuous use of warfarin or direct oral anticoagulants may be possible alternatives.Here,we show that some antithrombotic therapies in high thrombosis-risk patients increase delayed bleeding after gastric ESD,whereas most antithrombotic therapies do not.The management of high thrombosis-risk patients is crucial for improved outcomes.