CLINICAL STUDIES ON ENDOCSOPIC ELECTROMYOGRAM OF GASTRIC CANCER

Endoscopic gastroelectromyograms were obtained from 8 patients with gastric cancer, which was located at the gastric antrum. These cancers include 6 cases of advanced cancers and 2 cases of early cancers with mucosal invasion. On healthy volunteers, the gastroelectromyograms from the gastric antrum showed spike bursts with equal intervals. On the other hand, in the patients with advanced cancers on which muscular layer was completely destroyed by the cancerous invasion, the gastroelectromyograms from the cancerous lesion showed no spike bursts. However, in the patients with mucosal cancers in which the cancerous invasion destroyed neither muscular membrane nor muscular layer, the gastroelectromyogram from the cancerous lesion showed spike bursts similar to those of healthy volunteers.From these results, it is proved that the deeper cancerous invasion disturbed the local motility at the cancerous lesion. In future, endoscopic lead of gastro-electromyogram will become useful for the diagnosis of the degree of cancerous invas-ion and infiltration.