• Sun Jin, Seong Woo Jeon, Yonghwan Kwon, Su Youn Nam, Seong Jae Yeo, Sang Hoon Kwon, and Sang Jik Lee.
• Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Gastric Cancer Center, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2018 Jun 4; 33 (23): e166e166.

BackgroundThe optimal endoscopic screening interval for early gastric cancer (EGC) detection still remains controversial. Thus, we performed this prospective study to clarify the optimal interval between endoscopic examinations for EGC detection.MethodsA questionnaire survey for penultimate endoscopy and gastric cancer (GC) diagnosis interval was used; the findings were then analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups according to GC type and endoscopic examinations intervals.ResultsA total of 843 patients were enrolled. The endoscopic GC detection interval (P < 0.001), tumor location (P < 0.001), tumor size (P < 0.001), histology (P < 0.001), tumor stage (P < 0.001), and treatment modality (P < 0.001) showed significant differences in the univariate analysis between EGC and advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Endoscopic examination intervals below 2 years and 3 years were associated with higher proportions of EGC detection (adjusted odds ratio, 2.458 and 3.022, respectively) (P < 0.001). The patients with endoscopic examination to GC diagnosis interval of < 2 years showed significant differences in tumor size (P < 0.001), tumor stage (P < 0.001), and treatment modality (P < 0.001) compared to those with intervals of > 2 years and without screening. Similar results were observed in those with < 3-year intervals.ConclusionTriennial endoscopic screening might be as effective as biennial screening in increasing the detection rate of EGC and the risk of subsequent curable endoscopic resections.

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