Endoscopic submucosal dissection for early neoplasia of foregut: Current development

Abstract

In the past, conventional techniques of endoscopic resection, including endoscopic mucosal resection, were limited by the size of the specimen obtained, the obscurity of the resection and the uncertainty of the resection margins in piecemeal resection for early cancer of the foregut. Endoscopic submucosal dissection emerged as a novel technique of mucosal resection which can achieve a curative resection for early cancer of the foregut with a wide margin. The current article focused on a review of the application of endoscopic submucosal dissection in treating early cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract. © 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2007 College of Surgeons of Hong Kong.