The outcomes of patients with upper gastrointestinal tract cancer are poor, and early detection is critical. This study investigated the impact of standardized endoscopic imaging on the early detection rate of upper gastrointestinal tract cancers. A quasi-experimental study was conducted between July 2022 and July 2023. Four tertiary hospitals were randomized to the control and standardized endoscopic groups. The physicians in the standardized endoscopic group underwent standardized endoscopy training and applied standardized endoscopic imaging procedures. The physicians in the control group applied routine endoscopic procedures. The numbers of early and advanced upper gastrointestinal tract cancers in both groups were determined and compared. In the control group, there were 1175 cases of upper gastrointestinal malignant tumors, including 39 cases of early esophageal cancer and 104 cases of early gastric cancer. The early endoscopic detection rate was 12.17% in the control group. In the standardized procedure group, there were 1184 cases of upper gastrointestinal malignant tumors, including 71 cases of early esophageal cancer and 182 cases of early gastric cancer, with an early detection rate of 21.36%. The detection rates with the standardized procedure were also higher for early-stage esophageal (14.86% vs 7.93%, P = .019) and gastric (25.78% vs 15.23%, P = .032) cancers. Using standardized endoscopic procedures may improve the early detection rate of esophageal and gastric cancers.
Zhang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.