Feasibility of endoscopic papillectomy in early stage ampulla of Vater cancer

Background and Aim: Although endoscopic papillectomy has been attempted in early stage ampullary cancer (pTis, T1), its curative role and indications remain uncertain. The present study was designed to assess the factors that predict malignancy and lymph node metastasis and to suggest potential indications for endoscopic papillectomy by analyzing clinicopathological data. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of clinical and histopathological data of 216 patients with ampullary cancer between 1991 and 2006. Results: No tumor in pTis stage had metastasized to lymph nodes and only 9% of tumors in pT1 had metastasized. Tumor size (P = 0.018), depth of invasion (P = 0.021) and venous invasion (P = 0.014) were found to be significantly related to lymph node metastasis. Cases with early stage ampullary cancer of less than 2 cm with a well-differentiated histology and no angiolymphatic invasion (n = 13) showed no lymph node metastasis and no recurrence during a median follow up of 35.9 months. Conclusion: Endoscopic papillectomy can be adopted as a viable alternative to surgery in patients with early stage ampullary cancer of less than 2 cm in size and with a well-differentiated histology. When a resected specimen has a well-differentiated histology, and there is no resection margin involvement and no angiolymphatic invasion, our findings indicate that subsequent radical surgery is unnecessary.