A minute gastric cancer is the earliest cancer out of all types of early gastric cancer. Its detection and diagnosis are the final purpose of gastroenterological endoscopy. Due to the improvement of endoscopy, the frequency of its detection has been increasing, year by year. In October 1978, it was agreed at the 16th Congress of Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES) that the size of a minute gastric cancer was less than 5mm. Such a minute size have to be measured under a microscope of the specimen, which is used to be far smaller than endoscopic measure-ment with stereoscopic electronic endoscopy. An early gastric cancer at the more earlier stage, as a minute gastric cancer does not reveal so called malignant findings, which are used to be observed by an ordinary endoscopic examination. Therefore, to detect and confirm a minute gastric cancer, biopsy is essential for minute changes of the gastric mucosa, such as slight hyperemia, discoloration and uneven-ness. An electronic endoscopy and pigment endo-scopy has been contributing to detect any minute change of the gastric mucosa. In spite of rapid increasing of detection of a minute gastric cancer, it has to be detected much more for contribution to the decreasing of mortality due to advanced gastric cancer, which has been the highest of all the malignancies, in Japan. The radical endoscopic treatment for a minute gastric cancer has become possible without surgical procedure. It needs strict diagnosis of size, extension and depth invasion of a minute gastric cancer for the treatment.
