Individualized proximal margin for early gastric cancer patients

Table 1 Association of proximal margins with oncologic safety and postgastrectomy quality of life in early gastric cancer patients

Distance	Oncologic safety	Quality of life	Recommendation
< 1 mm	Dangerous	No impact (ref.)	Denied
1-10 mm	Marginal	No impact	Endoscopic fit cases only1
1-3 cm	Probably safe	No impact	Surgical cases with clear tumor borderline
3-5 cm	Safe	Probable impact	Surgical cases with uncertain tumor borderline
> 5 cm	Safe (ref.)	Clear impact	Denied

¹Indications: (1) cT1a tumor; (2) cN0 status; (3) no more than 20 mm in diameter; (4) without ulceration; and (5) histologically differentiated adenocarcinoma[2].