Background: The usefulness of magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (ME-NBI) for undifferentiated-type early gastric cancers (UD-type EGCs) is unclear. The present study examined the accuracy of the diagnostic demarcation of lesions using ME-NBI.
Methods: The study population consisted of 76 patients with UD-type EGC lesions measuring ≤20 mm in diameter using white-light imaging (WLI) and endoscopic ultrasonography and diagnosed as intramucosa and UL(-); all the lesions were confirmed as early gastric cancer based on postoperative pathological examination. All the patients had undergone an initial endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) at this hospital between January 2010 and January 2014. After marking with demarcation lines at the utmost oral and anal sites of the lesion using argon plasma coagulation under ME-NBI for intervention, the cases with demarcations that were consistent with the postoperative pathological findings were defined as having been accurately diagnosed. The inflammatory cell infiltration (Updated Sydney System, USS) were also assessed.
Results: The diagnostic demarcations of the lesion were consistent in 62 cases (81.6 %). The accurate diagnosis rate was higher for the USS cases with mild neutrophil and monocyte infiltration (P < 0.05). The addition of ME-NBI to WLI improved the accurate diagnosis rate by 27.6 %.
Conclusion: The use of ME-NBI in diagnostic demarcation of UD-type EGCs is recommended.
Keywords: Endoscopic resection; Gastric cancer; Magnifying endoscopy; Undifferentiated-type cancer.