Endoscopic Resection for Early Gastric Cancer beyond Absolute Indication with Emphasis on Controversial Issues

Endoscopic resection is the established treatment for early gastric cancer in selected patients with negligible risk of lymph node metastasis ('absolute indication'). Based on clinical observations and large pathological databases, expanding indications for endoscopic resection beyond absolute indication has been tried in Japan and Korea. However, controversies exist regarding the safety of treating early gastric cancer beyond absolute indication in terms of pathological evaluation of the resected specimen, definition of expanded indication, discrepancy between pre-endoscopic resection and post-endoscopic resection diagnoses of gastric neoplasm, and the best strategy for cases with non-curative resection. In this brief review, current evidence and clinical experience regarding issues of endoscopic resection beyond absolute indication will be summarized.