Gastric Cancer

Abstract

When early gastric cancer (EGC) was diagnosed for the first time a little more than 40 years ago, abnormal regions were detected by fluoroscopic barium examination and by photographs from a gastrocamera. With regard to the use of endoscopes for diagnosis, the gastrocamera was replaced by the fiberscope in the 1970s. The latter was then replaced with the electronic endoscope in the 1980s. Since the latter half of the 1990s, capsule endoscopes have come into use. In addition to conventional endoscopy, the following endoscopic examinations are now available: chromoscopy, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), magnifying endoscopy, and narrow band imaging etc. It is also worth noting that a definite diagnosis of EGC is impossible without biopsy.