Early esophageal cancer is defined as tumor limited to the mucosa or submucosa, and without lymphatic spread or distant metastasis.
Intraepithelial neoplasia, including low-grade and high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN), is defined as the precancerous change
of esophageal cancer. Recent advances in endoscopic technology have increased detection rates of early esophageal cancer. In 31% of
patients the esophageal cancer is detected early in situ. Along with endoscopic detection, more and more early esophageal lesions have
been also treated by endoscopic options. Compared with conventional esophagectomy, endoscopic therapies for intraepithelial neoplasia and
early esophageal cancer are viable alternatives with significantly lower morbidities. Endoscopic diagnosis and treatment for early esophageal
cancer has represented the trend of future. Thus, this review summarizes recent progress on endoscopic diagnosis and treatment options for
early esophageal cancer. Recently, the authors from Asiaââ¬âPacific countries also demonstrated that NBI is useful for detection and
characterization of superficial esophageal squamous cell cancer (SCC), and could replace chromoendoscopy in routine examination because it
is easy to use and adds much information to conventional white light.
Last date updated on November, 2024