Universal Painless Gastroscopy Detects Early Gastrointestinal Tumors

  When it comes to gastroscopy, many people have palpitations and trepidation and are reluctant to undergo the examination because they feel that the procedure is too painful. At present, with the improvement of endoscopy technology and the increasing tacit understanding of multidisciplinary cooperation, painless gastrointestinal examination has become popular, which can easily let patients finish the endoscopy comfortably.  In China, malignant tumors of the digestive system account for more than half of the incidence of malignant tumors. Due to the lack of the concept of early prevention of the disease, most patients are already in the middle and late stage when they are diagnosed. The treatment cost is high, the disease burden is heavy and the long-term effect is poor. If diagnosis and treatment can be carried out at the early stage of tumor development, the efficacy and prognosis will be greatly improved.  Early stage GI cancer refers to GI tumors with infiltration depth not exceeding the submucosa layer or limited to the mucosa layer, with or without lymph node metastasis. It includes early-stage esophageal cancer, early-stage gastric cancer and early-stage colorectal cancer. Intervention and treatment of early-stage GI cancer is not only in line with the national tumor prevention and treatment strategy, but also an effective way to reduce the national medical and economic burden, improve patients’ survival quality and reduce the mortality rate of malignant tumors in China.  Most digestive tract tumors have an evolutionary process from precancerous lesions to early-stage cancer to invasive cancer. This lays the foundation for the endoscopic diagnosis and early treatment of early cancer of GI tract. Taking esophageal cancer as an example, the five-year survival rate of patients with early-stage esophageal cancer can reach over 90% through active treatment, while the five-year survival rate of patients with late-stage treatment is only 5%. At present, the gastroenterology discipline has entered the era of endoscopy and lumpectomy. According to the latest statistics, the number of gastrointestinal endoscopists in China has reached 30,000, and there are more than 6,100 medical institutions that can carry out gastrointestinal endoscopy consultation and treatment. The emergence of new diagnostic and treatment techniques of gastrointestinal endoscopy has not only significantly improved the detection rate of early cancers of the digestive tract, but also provided the basis for us to carry out endoscopic treatment of early cancers of the digestive tract.  Through white light endoscopy, supplemented by magnification, NBI and pigmented endoscopy, the detection of early tumors becomes simple and accurate. After the diagnosis is confirmed, cases can be further treated with endoscopic ESD and other treatments, which can achieve the eradication of the lesion, and only regular postoperative follow-up is required. It can reduce the trauma and complications of surgery, reduce the cost of treatment and most importantly, improve the quality of life of patients.  The early detection of early gastrointestinal tumors by universal gastroscopy is a big thing to reduce the incidence and mortality of gastrointestinal tumors and improve the quality of life of all people. We all need to pay attention to it.