Abstract: Objective To investigate the role of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in assessing invasive depth of early gastric cancer (EGC) and the related factors influencing the accuracy of EUS. Methods The clinical data of 146 patients with EGC who were admitted to Beijing Friendship Hospital from June 2013 to December 2017 were retrospectively collected, including basic information (age and gender), endoscopic lesion characteristics (tumor location, size, morphology and invasive depth) and pathological features (invasive depth and differentiated types). The results of EUS were compared with pathology findings for invasive depth, and the related factors affecting the accuracy of EUS were analyzed. The rate comparison and univariate analysis were performed with the chi-square test, and multivariate analysis was performed with the Logistic regression model. Results The overall accuracy of EUS-determined invasive depth was 73.38%. The accuracy of diagnosis was associated with the tumor size, but not with the tumor location, morphology, and differentiated types. Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size was independent risk factor affecting the accuracy of EUS in determining the invasive depth of EGC. Conclusion EUS is useful for evaluating the depth of early gastric cancer invasion. Tumor size could cause incorrect evaluation with its increasement.

Key words: early gastric cancer, endoscopic ultrasonography, invasive depth