| Abstract: | The sentinel node (SN) concept has revolutionized how the surgical staging of both melanoma and breast cancer are approached. Applying this concept can yield benefits for the patient by avoiding various complications relating to unnecessary prophylactic regional lymph node dissection in cases with negative SN for cancer metastasis. Clinical application of SN mapping for early gastric cancer had been controversial for years. However, single institutional results of laparoscopic SN mapping for early gastric cancer are considered acceptable in terms of detection rate and accuracy in determining lymph node status. For early stage gastric cancer such as cT1N0M0 – in which a better prognosis was generally achieved through conventional surgical approaches – an individualized, minimally invasive surgery that might retain the patient's quality of life should be established as the next surgical challenge. Although there are many issues still to resolve, laparoscopic minimized gastrectomy with SN navigation surgery or combined endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic submucosal dissection has the potential to achieve this goal. |
