Can gastrointestinal endoscopy detect tumors early?

China is a country with high incidence of digestive tract tumors. At present, the incidence of digestive system tumors in China accounts for more than half of the total number of malignant tumors, among which gastric cancer, esophageal cancer and colorectal cancer rank 2nd, 4th and 6th in the incidence of tumors, respectively. In real life, once diagnosed, patients are often in the middle or late stage of the disease. At this time, if treatment is carried out again, the curative effect is not good, and the 5-year survival rate is less than 20%, which not only threatens the patients’ life seriously, but also aggravates the economic burden of the patients and their families as well as the burden of the society, and leads to the return of poverty of many families due to the disease. If various digestive tract tumors are diagnosed early and actively intervene in the treatment, the 5-year survival rate can reach more than 90%. The difference between early detection and mid-late detection is very huge: early esophageal cancer only needs to spend one to two million dollars to do an endoscopic surgery, and the 5-year survival rate is over 90%; while mid-late patients only need five to eight million dollars for the surgery, plus comprehensive treatment, at least more than 100,000 dollars. The high incidence of esophageal cancer is mainly related to the dietary habits of the population, such as hot food, barbecue, hard food and pickled food, e.g., Henan, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, etc. Such habits are most likely to scald or bruise the mucous epithelium of the esophagus, which will cause the mucous epithelium to be broken, ulcerated and bleeding. If coupled with the repeated stimulation of bad habits such as smoking and drinking, pickled food, etc., the mucosal epithelium will gradually become cancerous in the process of repeated proliferation and repair, resulting in a high incidence of esophageal cancer. In order to improve the detection rate and cure rate of early esophageal cancer, a team of gastroenterologists from Youyi Hospital has conducted several free early esophageal cancer checkups in the border area of Henan and Hebei. Gastroscopy screening was conducted for asymptomatic people over forty years old. Many patients have benefited as a result. The early diagnosis rate of another most common malignant tumor, stomach cancer, is also very low. Currently, stomach cancer accounts for the second highest incidence and mortality rate of malignant tumors in China. According to statistics, in 2000, there were 331,000 new cases of stomach cancer and 245,000 deaths in China, while in 2010, the figures had reached 436,000 and 323,000 respectively. Among the patients in China, early gastric cancer only accounts for 2-10%, with a 5-year survival rate of 95-97%, while about 85% of the patients with progressive gastric cancer can receive surgery, but the 5-year survival rate is only 20-30%. What is more worrying is that there is a tendency of rejuvenation of gastric cancer. According to rough statistics, about 15% of the diagnosed patients are young people under 40 years old. The main known factors for the occurrence of stomach cancer are: one is related to environmental factors, such as food containing nitrites, fungi, bacteria and other microbial pollution factors. The second is genetic factors, the incidence rate of gastric cancer in the immediate family members with family history of gastric cancer is significantly higher than that in the normal population; the third is related to the individual’s mental and psychological status, such as long-term tension, anxiety, depression and fatigue are more prone to gastric cancer; the fourth is related to the malignant tendency of some lesions, such as gastric ulcers, gastric adenomatous polyps, chronic atrophic gastritis accompanied by moderate to severe heterotrophic proliferation of the gastric mucosa. In addition, Helicobacter pylori infection is also thought to be related to the high incidence of chronic atrophic gastritis and even gastric cancer, but there is a lack of direct evidence. Therefore, endoscopic screening for gastric cancer in people with a high incidence of gastric cancer, improving the diagnosis rate of early gastric cancer, and performing endoscopic (minimally invasive) treatment of early gastric cancer can also help to improve the cure rate of gastric cancer and the 5-year survival rate. Colorectal cancer is also one of the common malignant tumors with a high incidence rate, and the middle and late stages account for the majority. With the development of economy and the continuous improvement of living standard, the change of lifestyle as well as dietary structure, the incidence rate of colorectal cancer has a tendency to increase year by year. Although the diagnosis and surgical treatment of colon cancer have made great progress, its 5-year survival rate has hovered around 50% in the last decade. Therefore, improving the detection rate and early endoscopic resection of colon precancerous lesions (colon adenomas) and strengthening endoscopic surveillance of colon cancer in high-risk groups can help reduce the incidence of colon cancer. Early diagnosis of colonic adenoma and colon cancer mainly relies on digestive endoscopy, which can be observed under direct vision and biopsies can be taken. Endoscopy provides a comprehensive and reliable endoluminal examination of the entire colon, not only to detect larger lesions, but also to do qualitative biopsies as well as electrodessication of smaller lesions. Colonic adenomas, commonly referred to as colonic polyps, are precancerous lesions that develop insidiously, often with no clinical symptoms, and smaller lesions can be easily missed due to the cleanliness of the intestinal tract and the limitations of the operator. Once symptoms appear, it often means that colon cancer has already developed. Nowadays, with the advancement of medical technology, many new techniques for early detection and treatment have been developed to improve the early diagnosis and treatment of these digestive tract tumors. For example, in Friendship Hospital, we use compound iodine staining reagent to stain the mucosa of esophagus during gastroscopy for people aged 45-70 years old, in order to detect early esophageal tumors. As a result, many patients with no symptoms were found to have early lesions. In addition, with the development of technology, more convenient methods than the staining method have been produced, such as NBI, which is a technology that uses narrow-band spectroscopy, and with the touch of a button on the endoscope, the glandular ducts and tiny blood vessels of early GI tract lesions can be clearly displayed, which is more convenient than the pigment staining examination and has no obvious adverse reactions. In addition, there is also a laser confocal endoscopy early diagnostic technology has gradually begun to be applied in the clinic, the biggest advantage of this technology is that the endoscopy can be magnified a thousand times, theoretically, without the need for a biopsy and histopathological examination, you can directly obtain and biopsy similar to the histological image. In addition to the continuous development of diagnostic techniques, early treatment techniques are also constantly being introduced. For example, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) techniques allow patients with early stage GI tumors to be spared the pain and risk of surgical treatment, with fast recovery and high cure rates. Early diagnosis and treatment of GI tumors not only require medical staff to strengthen learning, communication and research in this area, but also need to raise the awareness of the people in this area. Early detection and early treatment is not just a slogan, but should become an important awareness of all people’s health. According to the statistics of Japan, the early diagnosis rate of digestive diseases in this country can reach 70%, and the number of people who receive gastrointestinal endoscopy is about 14.2 million per year, which means that one out of every 10 people on average receives a gastrointestinal endoscopy once a year, while the early diagnosis rate of China’s gastrointestinal tract is only 7-10%, and the number of people who receive gastrointestinal endoscopy every year is only 1-2 out of 100 people on average. In this regard, we suggest that despite the pain and risk of endoscopy, for the sake of one’s own health and family’s happiness, all people over 40 years of age, especially those in the high incidence areas of digestive tract tumors and high-risk families, should undergo endoscopy; those who have a family history of tumors, have irregular living habits, or have symptoms such as epigastric pain and discomfort in eating, etc. should undergo gastrointestinal endoscopy as soon as possible for early detection and early treatment. Early detection and early treatment. At present, painless endoscopy has been widely carried out, which is a good choice for those who are afraid of endoscopy.