Key clinical point: Despite lower complete resection rates and a higher risk for recurrence, endoscopic resection (ER) offers similar long-term survival outcomes and serious adverse event (AE) rates and shorter hospital stays compared with surgery in early gastric cancer (EGC).
Major finding: The ER vs surgery group had a lower complete resection rate (risk difference [RD] −0.1; P < .00001), shorter length of hospital stay ( P < .00001), higher rate of recurrence (RD 0.07; P < .00001), and comparable 5-year overall survival (RD −0.01; P = .38), cancer-specific survival (RD 0.01; P < .17), and serious AE rate (RD −0.03; P = .13).
Study details: This was a meta-analysis of 29 observational cohort studies (prospective: n = 2; retrospective: n = 27) involving 20,559 patients with EGC who underwent ER (n = 7709) or surgery (n = 12,850).
Disclosures: No source of funding was reported. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Bestetti AM et al. endoscopic resection versus surgery in the treatment of early gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Oncol. 2022;12:939244 (Jul 12). Doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.939244