The Effect of Routine Endoscopy on the Detection Rate of T1 Gastric Cancer (Early Gastric Cancer) in Birmingham

Summary

The introduction of routine endoscopy facilities at the General Hospital, Birmingham has made no significant impact on the proportion of stage T1 or ‘early’ gastric cancers detected. Prior to this, T1 cancers comprised 2.8 % of all tumors diagnosed, or 4.2 % of resected cases. Following establishment of the service in 1974, 3.2 % of all cases and 6.3 % of those resected were stage T1 lesions.

The clinical presentation reflected the high proportion of tumors associated with ulceration (67 %). The accuracy rate for pre-operative diagnosis of a malignant lesion was barium meal 67 %, cytology alone 73 %, biopsy alone 80 %, and cytology and biopsy in combination, repeated if suspicious, 100 %.

The crude survival rate at 5 years was 83.3 % (age-adjusted 96 %), and at 10 years 53.8 %).

Key words:

Early gastric cancer - Endoscopy - Gastroscopy