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The Japanese Viewpoint on the Histopathology of Early Gastric Cancer

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Stem Cells, Pre-neoplasia, and Early Cancer of the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 908))

Abstract

Japanese histopathologists have traditionally had greater opportunity to study the histology and clinical course of early gastric cancer because of technological developments including double contrast radiography and endoscopy systems, combined with the higher incidence of gastric cancer in the general population in Japan. Endoscopic resection is now considered best practice for treatment of early gastric cancers with a negligible risk of lymph node metastasis. Histopathologic evaluation plays a critical role in assessing the likelihood of lymph node metastasis on endoscopically resected specimens. There remains disparity between Western and Japanese histopathologists in the conceptual approach to the histopathologic evaluation of neoplastic lesions in the upper gastrointestinal tract, in particular regarding lesions straddling the borderline between noninvasive and invasive disease. Although in routine practice, the clinical impact of these conceptual differences is small, this disparity does complicate international exchange of datasets and the development of globally applicable formal definitions. Here we review the current practice in histological diagnosis of early gastric cancer in Japan and discuss some of the conceptual differences between Japanese and Western histopathological assessment of lesions in the neoplastic stomach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pathology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan

    Shigeki Sekine & Hiroshi Yoshida

  2. UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK

    Marnix Jansen M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc.

  3. Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine and Diagnostic Pathology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2192, Japan

    Ryoji Kushima

Authors
  1. Shigeki Sekine
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  2. Hiroshi Yoshida
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  3. Marnix Jansen M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc.
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  4. Ryoji Kushima
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Correspondence to Shigeki Sekine .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom

    Marnix Jansen

  2. Barts Cancer Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom

    Nicholas A. Wright

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Sekine, S., Yoshida, H., Jansen, M., Kushima, R. (2016). The Japanese Viewpoint on the Histopathology of Early Gastric Cancer. In: Jansen, M., Wright, N. (eds) Stem Cells, Pre-neoplasia, and Early Cancer of the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 908. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41388-4_16

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