Endoscopic resection as a treatment for early gastric cancer can achieve essentially the same radical results as conventional surgery with comprehensive treatment and regular follow-up.
Patients with early gastric cancer have an approximately 6% risk of developing gastric cancer after 6 months after endoscopic resection, which is significantly higher than those who underwent surgery (less than 1%), but most patients can be cured with repeat endoscopic treatment, and there is no significant difference in 5-year survival rates.
From the perspective of lymph node metastasis, gastric cancer chosen for endoscopic resection generally invades only the mucosa and submucosa of the gastric wall, and the chance of lymph node metastasis is relatively low, usually 7.8% to 18.3%, so the possibility of achieving radical cure is still relatively high. Moreover, patients will also receive regular postoperative review, and in case of recurrence will promptly undergo complementary radical surgery or endoscopic resection again, and survival is usually not affected.