Endoscopic classification can predict the infiltrative growth patterns of early-stage esophageal cancer: a retrospective study of 133 patients at a single academic tertiary care center.

The relationships between two endoscopic classification systems (type I and II) and the infiltrative growth patterns (INF) of early esophageal cancers were evaluated. Among type I carcinomas, the INFs were mainly INFb in the polypoid and mixed types, INFa in the superficial type, and INFc in the excavated type. Among type II carcinomas, INFa was the main pattern in the surface-propagating type, whereas INFb was observed in the intraluminal, bilateral, and mixed types. INFb and INFc were observed in the intramural type. Our results indicate that the superficial and surface-propagating types had the weakest infiltrative potential, whereas the excavated and intramural types had the highest infiltrative potential.