Early gastric cancer: diagnosis, staging, and clinical impact. Evaluation of 530 patients. New elements for an updated definition and classification.

Background: The prevention and early diagnosis of gastric cancer permit clinicians to discover the tumor in the initial phase, during which time it can be completely eradicated, endoscopically or surgically. Since Murakami gave the definition of early gastric cancer (EGC) in 1971, many authors have identified various subtypes of EGC with different morphological characteristics and clinical behaviour.

Methods: We evaluated retrospectively 530 patients: the median follow-up time was 10.

Subtotal gastrectomy as treatment for distal multifocal early gastric cancer.

Introduction: Multifocal early gastric cancer (MEGC) is frequently observed and represents a serious risk when minimally invasive treatments are performed.

Patients And Methods: We present the experience of two Italian centers situated in a relatively high incidence area for gastric cancer. Out of a total of 791 surgical resections for EGC carried out in two Italian centers from 1976 to 2006, we identified 98 patients with multifocal EGC (12.