European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology
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Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol · Feb 2015
Comparative StudyIntramucosal gastric cancer: the rate of lymph node metastasis in signet ring cell carcinoma is as low as that in well-differentiated adenocarcinoma.
Endoscopic resection (ER) plays a major role in the management of early gastric cancer. Less lymph node metastasis (LNM) and better survival rates were reported in early gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (SRC) than adenocarcinoma. We investigated and compared the clinicopathologic characteristics of endoscopic and surgical features in early gastric SRC and adenocarcinoma in accordance with histologic differentiation to examine the feasibility of ER in early gastric SRC. ⋯ Rate of LNM and submucosal invasion in early SRC was as low as those in early well-differentiated adenocarcinoma. ER for early gastric SRC may be an alternative to surgical gastrectomy under certain conditions.