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Gastric cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer in Japan. In 2004, there were 50 562 deaths from gastric cancer; they accounted for 15.8% of the total number of cancer deaths.

As a public health problem, Japaneses started with a national screening program during the reconstruction after WW2. With much less resources than today in many developing countries (as Peru, for example), Japan could handle it and gradually decreases its mortality. Continue Reading

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La mucosectomía o resección endoscópica de la mucosa (EMR, del inglés: endoscopic mucosal resection), a pesar de su insignificante riesgo de metastasis ganglionar, es la técnica estándar para el tratamiento del cáncer precoz de estómago utilizada en Japón, y ha sido ampliamente difundida y aceptada en los países occidentales.

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QUESTION from Lima, Peru

Introduction

Staging describes the extent or severity of an individual’s cancer.

Staging helps the doctor plan a person’s treatment. Moreover, the stage can be used to estimate the person’s prognosis (life expectancy). So, the more accurate the patient’s staging, better outomes against their illness.

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QUESTION from Los Angeles, USA

As for the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo, they always try surgery if it is possible.

Only stage 4 patients have case-by-case treatment. But even in stage 4 cases, Japaneses perform a laparoscopic peritoneal lavage to check peritoneal dissemination. If it is negative, the patient could be prepare for surgery. Anyway, they will receive chemotherapy.
I don’t know about treatment in Peru, but probably follows the American guidelines.

I hope this could answer your question.

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Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) of early gastric cancer (EGC), with negligible risk of lymph node metastasis, is a standard technique in Japan and is increasingly becoming accepted and regularly used in Western countries.

EMR is a minimally invasive technique which is safe, convenient, and efficacious; however, it is insufficient when treating larger lesions. The evidence suggests that difficulties with the correct assessment of depth of tumor invasion lead to an increase in local recurrence with standard EMR when lesions are larger than 15 mm. A major factor contributing to this increase in local recurrence relates to lesions being excised piecemeal due to the technical limitations of standard EMR. Continue Reading