Importance of histological evaluation in endoscopic resection of early colorectal cancer

Figure 1 The Japanese system for measuring the depth of submucosal invasion in submucosally invasive cancer. When the muscularis mucosae can be identified, it is used as the baseline and the vertical distance from this line to the deepest extent of invasion represents the depth of submucosal invasion. When the muscularis mucosae cannot be identified due to carcinomatous invasion, the most superficial aspect of the submucosally invasive cancer is used as the baseline and the vertical distance from this line to the deepest extent of invasion is the depth of submucosal invasion.