Revaluation of endoscopic laser therapy for treatment of early cancer in the stomach.

The efficacy and safety of the endoscopic laser therapy for eradication of early cancer in the stomach was revaluated in fourty-eight patients. In 37 of the 42 patients (88%) treated with the laser therapy alone, the procedure was effective and the complete eradication was confirmed at the end of the follow-up period. In seven of fourteen patients with the incomplete treatment, residual cancer cells were successfully removed by repeated laser therapy. The endoscopic mucosal resection was effective in 21 of the 30 patients (70%) with the early gastric cancer. Interestingly, six of the eleven cases with incomplete treatment with the endoscopic mucosal resection underwent the laser therapy and the complete eradication was achieved in all patients. Although the endoscopic mucosal resection is now the main method for the endoscopic treatment of the early gastric cancer, these data favor offering the endoscopic laser therapy as the combined method with the mucosal resection therapy.