A colonoscopic overtube system that creates a 'therapeutic zone' and permits retraction facilitates endoscopic submucosal dissection, was associated with fewer deep bowel wall injuries and instrument exchanges, and required less lifting solution vs classic endoscopic submucosal dissection in an ex vivo bovine model

INTRODUCTION

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is the 'gold standard' for large flat polyps; nevertheless, the rate of adoption in the USA is low. In ESD, the polyp is 'surgically' detached with a needle knife after a submucosal lift; gravity and the dissection cap are used for retraction. ESD would be easier if active retraction were possible. In an ex vivo bovine colon model, this study assessed an overtube system (Boston Scientific ORISE Tissue Retraction System, TRS) that permits retraction and creates 'an operative field' for removal of rectal/sigmoid lesions.

METHOD

Classic ESD (C-ESD) was compared to TRS-facilitated ESD (TRS-ESD). Cleaned/preserved bovine large bowel was used, and two 2-cm 'lesions'/colon were branded onto the mucosal surface 25 and 35 cm from the anus. Submucosal saline lifts were made using a thin catheter and a standard needle knife. We tracked case length, number of instrument exchanges (to refresh lift), the volume of lift solution, the fullness of resection, and deep muscle injuries.

RESULTS

Fifty ESDs were carried out in 25 colons (25 C-ESD, 25 TRS-ESD). Complete resections were noted in all cases. The TRS method required fewer instrument exchanges (median 5) vs C-ESD (median 9, p < 0.0001) and less lift solution (median 39 ml) than the C-ESD cases (median 55 ml, p = 0.0003). TRS-ESD was associated with fewer deep muscle injuries (median 2) than C-ESD (median 3, p = 0.0191). Finally, the TRS group's median case length (34.5 min) was shorter than that of C-ESD (41 min, p = 0.0543).

CONCLUSION

The TRS system provides retraction and facilitates ESD regarding the number of lift injections, the volume of lift solution needed, and avoidance of muscle injuries. Of note, there is an apparent TRS learning curve, and the device mandates a distal-to-proximal approach and initial 360 degree mucosal incision. Further study is warranted.

Protocol for expanded indications of endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancer in China: a multicenter, ambispective, observational, open-cohort study

BACKGROUND

The main treatment methods for early gastric cancer (EGC) include endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and radical gastrectomy. However, appropriate treatment for patients who exceed the absolute indications for ESD remains unestablished. In China, evidence-based medicine for the expanding indications of ESD and accurate diagnostic staging for EGC patients are lacking. Thus, clinical studies involving Chinese patients with EGC are necessary to select appropriate treatment options and promote China's expanded indications for ESD and diagnostic staging scheme.

METHODS

This is a multicenter, ambispective, observational, open-cohort study that is expected to enroll 554 patients with EGC. The study was launched in May 2018 and is scheduled to end in March 2022. All enrolled patients should meet the inclusion criteria. Case report forms and electronic data capture systems are used to obtain clinical data, which includes demographic information, results of perioperative blood- and auxiliary examinations, surgical information, results of postoperative pathology, and the outcomes of postoperative recovery and follow-up. Patients are followed up every 6 months after surgery for a minimum of 5 years. The primary endpoint is the rate of lymph node metastasis (LNM), whereas the secondary endpoints include the following: consistency, sensitivity, and specificity of the results of preoperative examinations and postoperative pathology; cut-off values for LNM; logistic regression model of expanded indications for ESD; and incidence of postoperative complications within the 30-day and 5-year relapse-free survival rates.

DISCUSSION

This study will explore and evaluate expanded indications for ESD that match the characteristics of the Chinese population in patients with EGC and will introduce a related staging procedure and examination scheme that is appropriate for China. Ethical approval was obtained from all participating centers. The findings are expected to be disseminated through publications or presentations and will facilitate clinical decision-making in EGC.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The name of the registry is ChiCTR. It was registered on May 9, 2018, with the registration number ( ChiCTR1800016084 ). The clinical trial was launched in May 2018 and will end in March 2022, with enrollment to be completed by December 2021. Trial status: Ongoing.

The Mexican consensus on the detection and treatment of early gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the most frequent neoplasias in the digestive tract and is the result of premalignant lesion progression in the majority of cases. Opportune detection of those lesions is relevant, given that timely treatment offers the possibility of cure. There is no consensus in Mexico on the early detection of gastric cancer, and therefore, the Asociación Mexicana de Gastroenterología brought together a group of experts and produced the "Mexican consensus on the detection and treatment of early gastric cancer" to establish useful recommendations for the medical community. The Delphi methodology was employed, and 38 recommendations related to early gastric cancer were formulated. The consensus defines early gastric cancer as that which at diagnosis is limited to the mucosa and submucosa, irrespective of lymph node metástasis. In Mexico, as in other parts of the world, factors associated with early gastric cancer include Helicobacter pylori infection, a family history of the disease, smoking, and diet. Chromoendoscopy, magnification endoscopy, and equipment-based image-enhanced endoscopy are recommended for making the diagnosis, and accurate histopathologic diagnosis is invaluable for making therapeutic decisions. The endoscopic treatment of early gastric cancer, whether dissection or resection of the mucosa, should be preferred to surgical management, when similar oncologic cure results can be obtained. Endoscopic surveillance should be individualized.

Feasibility of endoscopic treatment and predictors of lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been routinely performed in applicable early gastric cancer (EGC) patients as an alternative to conventional surgical operations that involve lymph node dissection. The indications for ESD have been recently expanded to include larger, ulcerated, and undifferentiated mucosal lesions, and differentiated lesions with slight submucosal invasion. The risk of lymph node metastasis (LNM) is the most important consideration when deciding on a treatment strategy for EGC. Despite the advantages over surgical procedures, lymph nodes cannot be removed by ESD. In addition, whether patients who meet the expanded indications for ESD can be managed safely remains controversial.

AIM

To determine whether the ESD indications are applicable to Chinese patients and to investigate the predictors of LNM in EGC.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 12552 patients who underwent surgery for gastric cancer between June 2007 and December 2018 at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University. A total of 1262 (10.1%) EGC patients were eligible for inclusion in this study. Data on the patients’ clinical, endoscopic, and histopathological characteristics were collected. The absolute and expanded indications for ESD were validated by regrouping the enrolled patients and determining the positive LNM results in each subgroup. Predictors of LNM in patients were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

LNM was observed in 182 (14.4%) patients. No LNM was detected in the patients who met the absolute indications (0/90). LNM occurred in 4/311 (1.3%) patients who met the expanded indications. According to univariate analysis, LNM was significantly associated with positive tumor marker status, medium (20-30 mm) and large (>30 mm) lesion sizes, excavated macroscopic-type tumors, ulcer presence, submucosal invasion (SM1 and SM2), poor differentiation, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), perineural invasion, and diffuse and mixed Lauren’s types. Multivariate analysis demonstrated SM1 invasion (odds ration [OR] = 2.285, P = 0.03), SM2 invasion (OR = 3.230, P < 0.001), LVI (OR = 15.702, P < 0.001), mucinous adenocarcinoma (OR = 2.823, P = 0.015), and large lesion size (OR = 1.900, P = 0.006) to be independent risk factors.

CONCLUSION

The absolute indications for ESD are reasonable, and the feasibility of expanding the indications for ESD requires further investigation. The predictors of LNM include invasion depth, LVI, mucinous adenocarcinoma, and lesion size.

Colorectal cancer surveillance in inflammatory bowel disease: Practice guidelines and recent developments

Patients with long-standing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involving at least 1/3 of the colon are at increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). Advancements in CRC screening and surveillance and improved treatment of IBD has reduced CRC incidence in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s colitis. Most cases of CRC are thought to arise from dysplasia, and recent evidence suggests that the majority of dysplastic lesions in patients with IBD are visible, in part thanks to advancements in high definition colonoscopy and chromoendoscopy. Recent practice guidelines have supported the use of chromoendoscopy with targeted biopsies of visible lesions rather than traditional random biopsies. Endoscopists are encouraged to endoscopically resect visible dysplasia and only recommend surgery when a complete resection is not possible. New technologies such as virtual chromoendoscopy are emerging as potential tools in CRC screening. Patients with IBD at increased risk for developing CRC should undergo surveillance colonoscopy using new approaches and techniques.

Incidental diagnosis of very small rectal neuroendocrine neoplasms: when should endoscopic submucosal dissection be performed? A single ENETS centre experience

PURPOSE

The management of small (≤5 mm) rectal neuroendocrine neoplasms (r-NENs), incidentally removed during colonoscopy, still remains under debate.

METHODS

All consecutive patients affected by r-NENs from January 2013 to December 2017 were studied. The inclusion criteria were: (1) patients having an incidental pathological diagnosis of very small (≤5 mm) polypoid r-NENs; (2) patients treated with a standard polypectomy as first-line therapy and (3) patients treated by endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) as salvage therapy. The primary endpoint was to identify the factors related to residual disease after a standard polypectomy. The secondary endpoint was to calculate the accuracy of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), grading and size in predicting residual disease.

RESULTS

Starting from a prospective database of 123 consecutive patients affected by r-NENs, only 31 met the inclusion criteria. A final pathological examination of an ESD specimen showed residual disease in 7 out of 31 patients (22.6%). A multivariate analysis showed that the size of the polyps was the only independent factor related to residual disease with an odds ratio of 8.7 ± 7.5 (P = 0.013) for each millimetre. The accuracy of EUS, grading and tumour size (3.1 mm cut-off point) and area under the curves were 0.661 ± 0.111, 0.631 ± 0.109 and 0.821 ± 0.109, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

When the r-NEN polyp was larger than 3 mm, ESD was indicated. Unlike the size of the tumour, grading and EUS features did not accurately predict residual disease.

Efficacy and safety of endoscopic submucosal dissection for papillary adenocarcinoma-type early gastric cancer

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has increasingly been used to treat early gastric cancer (EGC); however, its efficacy in treating papillary adenocarcinoma-type EGC remains unknown.We sought to identify risk factors for lymph node (LN) metastasis in papillary adenocarcinoma-type EGC and evaluate the clinical outcome after ESD.This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who were diagnosed with EGC in our hospital from January 2009 to December 2016. In total, 85 patients had papillary adenocarcinoma-type EGC, of whom 52 and 33 underwent surgical treatment and ESD, respectively. This study analyzed the LN metastasis risk factors and clinical outcomes between these 2 groups and with those of an existing ESD indication group.LN metastasis occurred in 13 (25.0%) of 52 patients who underwent surgery. Multivariate analysis indicated that lymphovascular invasion was an independent risk factor (odds ratio: 20.624; 95% confidence interval: 19.628-21.497; P = .001). Of 33 patients who underwent ESD, 21 (63.6%) had an absolute indication and 12 (36.4%) had an expanded indication. All 3 (9.1%) patients with non-curative resection underwent additional surgery. The clinical outcomes were compared to those of 926 patients who underwent ESD of non-papillary adenocarcinoma-type EGC. There were no significant differences in curative resection rate (P = .327), procedure-related complication (P = .853), local recurrence (P = 1.000), or overall survival (P = 1.000).ESD of papillary adenocarcinoma-type EGC showed an acceptable outcome in comparison to an existing ESD indication group. However, these patients exhibit a relatively higher risk of LN metastasis.

Consensus on the digestive endoscopic tunnel technique

With the digestive endoscopic tunnel technique (DETT), many diseases that previously would have been treated by surgery are now endoscopically curable by establishing a submucosal tunnel between the mucosa and muscularis propria (MP). Through the tunnel, endoscopic diagnosis or treatment is performed for lesions in the mucosa, in the MP, and even outside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. At present, the tunnel technique application range covers the following: (1) Treatment of lesions originating from the mucosal layer, e.g., endoscopic submucosal tunnel dissection for oesophageal large or circular early-stage cancer or precancerosis; (2) treatment of lesions from the MP layer, per-oral endoscopic myotomy, submucosal tunnelling endoscopic resection, etc.; and (3) diagnosis and treatment of lesions outside the GI tract, such as resection of lymph nodes and benign tumour excision in the mediastinum or abdominal cavity. With the increasing number of DETTs performed worldwide, endoscopic tunnel therapeutics, which is based on DETT, has been gradually developed and optimized. However, there is not yet an expert consensus on DETT to regulate its indications, contraindications, surgical procedure, and postoperative treatment. The International DETT Alliance signed up this consensus to standardize the procedures of DETT. In this consensus, we describe the definition, mechanism, and significance of DETT, prevention of infection and concepts of DETT-associated complications, methods to establish a submucosal tunnel, and application of DETT for lesions in the mucosa, in the MP and outside the GI tract (indications and contraindications, procedures, pre- and postoperative treatments, effectiveness, complications and treatments, and a comparison between DETT and other operations).

Validation of classic and expanded criteria for endoscopic submucosal dissection of early gastric cancer: 7 years of experience in a Western tertiary cancer center

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to evaluate the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society criteria for endoscopic submucosal resection of early gastric cancer (EGC) based on the experience in a Brazilian cancer center.

METHODS

We included all patients who underwent endoscopic submucosal resection for gastric lesions between February 2009 and October 2016. Demographic data and information regarding the endoscopic resection, pathological report and follow-up were obtained. Statistical calculations were performed with Fisher's exact test and chi-square tests, with 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS

In total, 76% of the 51 lesions were adenocarcinomas, 16% were adenomas, and 8% had other diagnoses. The average size was 19.9 mm (±11.7). The average procedure length was 113.9 minutes (±71.4). The complication rate was 21.3%, with only one patient who needed surgical treatment (transmural perforation). Among the adenocarcinomas, 39.5% met the classic criteria for curability, 31.6% met the expanded criteria and 28.9% met the criteria for noncurative resection. Analysis of the indication criteria and curability revealed differences among cases with "only-by-size" expanded criteria (64.28%), other expanded criteria (40%) and classic criteria (89.47%), with a p-value of 0.049. During follow-up (15.8 months; ±14.3), 86.1% of the EGC patients had no recurrence. When well-differentiated and poorly differentiated lesions or lesions included in the classic and expanded criteria were compared, there were no differences in recurrence. The noncurative group presented a higher recurrence rate than the classic group (p=0.014).

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that the Japanese endoscopic submucosal resection criteria might be useful for endoscopic treatment of EGC in Western countries.

Clinical guidelines for endoscopic mucosal resection of non-pedunculated colorectal lesions

This document summarizes the contents of the Clinical Guidelines for the Endoscopic Mucosal Resection of Non-Pedunculated Colorectal Lesions that was developed by the working group of the Spanish Society of Digestive Endoscopy (GSEED of Endoscopic Resection). This document presents recommendations for the endoscopic management of superficial colorectal neoplastic lesions.

Risk factors associated with difficult gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection: predicting difficult ESD

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIM

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a widely accepted treatment for superficial gastric neoplasms. Difficult ESD can lead to complications, such as bleeding and perforation. To predict difficult ESD procedures, we analyzed the factors associated with difficult ESD.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The medical records of 1052 ESD procedures were retrospectively reviewed. Difficult ESD was defined by any one of three end points: longer procedure time (≥60 min), piecemeal resection, incomplete (R1) resection, or gastric wall perforation. To determine the factors associated with difficult ESD, clinical and pathologic features and endoscopic findings were analyzed.

RESULTS

The rates of en bloc resection and curative (R0) resection were 93.3 and 92.4 %, respectively. The mean procedure time was 27.7 ± 16.7 min. After multivariate analysis, larger tumor size (≥20 mm) was an independent risk factor for longer procedure time (OR 4.1, P < 0.001), for piecemeal resection (OR 2.3, P = 0.003) and incomplete (R1) resection (OR 2.1, P = 0.005). Location of the lesion (upper third) was an independent risk factor for longer procedure time (OR 5.8, P < 0.001), for piecemeal resection (OR 4.1, P < 0.001) and incomplete (R1) resection (OR 4.5, P < 0.001). Submucosal fibrosis was an independent risk factor for longer procedure time (OR 9.7, P < 0.001), for piecemeal resection (OR 2.4, P < 0.001) and incomplete (R1) resection (OR 2.6, P < 0.001). Finally, submucosal invasive gastric cancer was an independent risk factor for piecemeal resection (OR 2.6, P = 0.008), for perforation (OR 19.3, P = 0.001) and for incomplete (R1) resection (OR 2.7, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Difficult ESD procedures are a function of the lesion size and location, submucosal fibrosis, and submucosal invasive cancer. When a difficult ESD procedure is expected, appropriate preparations should be considered, including consultation with more experienced endoscopists.