Endoscopy safe for GI smooth muscle tumors

NANCHANG, China, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- A 15-year research study in China shows endoscopic resection can safely be used to treat gastrointestinal smooth muscle tumors, or SMTs.

The study, published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, shows no severe complications developed after the SMTs were treated by endoscoptic resection, and no recurrences were observed.

Dr. Xiao-Dong Zhou of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University worked with a cohort of 69 patients with SMTs who had accepted endoscopic examination and treatment.

He also found the diagnostic accuracy for ordinary biopsies was 90 percent, and for the "digging" biopsy technique it was 94.1 percent. The study concluded the digging biopsy technique is a good option for histologic -- or tissue -- diagnosis of SMTs.

SMTs -- such as leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma -- are relatively common lesions thought to originate from a muscular layer of the gastrointestinal tract, and can be found in the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon. These are considered more difficult to treat than polyps and are usually treated surgically, the researchers said.

Endoscopy, a less invasive diagnosis and treatment method than conventional surgery, uses a tube equipped with fiber optic vision that allows instruments to be inserted into the body.