Intramucosal ("Early") Gastric Cancer

72 year-old man undergoing endoscopy for evaluation of abdominal pain. Endoscopy revealed a subtle, 2-3 cm focus of barely raised, nodular mucosa with normal color, on the posterior wall of the distal gastric body. The antrum and pylorus are visible in the background of this photo. Biopsies from the lesion revealed adenocarcinoma, and the patient was referred for surgical resection. The surgical specimen showed the lesion to be intra-mucosal, with invasion of the lamina propria but not into the muscularis mucosa.

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