Incidence and impact of scheduled endoscopic surveillance on recurrence after curative endoscopic resection for early gastric cancer

Background and Aims: The aim of this study was to identify the incidence of recurrent lesions after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and to determine whether scheduled endoscopic surveillance might control their development and treatment. Methods: We reviewed the clinical data of patients who underwent gastric ESD between March 2007 and April 2014. Results: A total of 1347 patients who underwent curative ESD for early gastric cancer that met the expanded indication for ESD were analyzed. Of these, recurrence at the previous ESD site occurred in 39 patients, whereas recurrence in the stomach at a site other than the ESD site occurred in 102 patients. Older age, intestinal metaplasia, flat or depressed lesions, and ESD criteria were associated with recurrence in the stomach in places other than the ESD site. The annual incidence was.84% for recurrence at the previous ESD site and 2.48% for recurrence in the stomach at other than the ESD site. In cases of local recurrence and metachronous lesions, there was a significant difference between the short-and long-surveillance interval group (<= 12 months vs > 12 months) in the proportions of recurrent adenocarcinoma (31.9% vs 60.9%, P = .021), additional gastrectomy (7.1% vs 46.2%, P = .033), and size (8.92 +/- 4.17 mm vs 18.08 +/- 10.47 mm, P = .010). Conclusions: Scheduled endoscopy surveillance is necessary for detecting recurrent lesions. In addition, scheduled endoscopy surveillance might help to detect recurrent lesions at a stage early enough for a curative resection.