| [ Summary ] |
We described this technique and analyzed the therapeutic outcome of endoscopic resection, using the double-snare-method, on 535 patients who underwent endoscopic resection of early gastric cancers at Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, from 1978 to 1996. The target lesion was completely resented with the initial procedure in 84.5% of the cases : resection in the remaining 15.5% required a second or subsequent attempt at endoscopic resection, gastrectomy, or both. There were no incidents of mortality resulting from cancer or from this procedure. Perforations of the stomach occurred in four patients and major bleeding in one case. In order to establish a therapeutic strategy for treatment of early gastric cancer, it is necessary to recognize the limited efficacy of our technique and compare the prospective therapeutic outcome with other modified endoscopic procedures or surgical therapy. |