HCM CityMs. Hien, 36 years old, had a regular health check-up and the gastroenterologist discovered a submucosal tumor in her rectum.
On January 2, Dr. Pham Huu Tung, Deputy Director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and Endoscopic Surgery, said that the small tumor was 1×0,9×0,7 cm under the rectal mucosa. The patient's colon is indicated for resection to prevent possible complications.
The doctor uses Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD) technique to remove the entire tumor in the rectum in about 30 minutes. The tumor is sent for testing to determine whether the tumor is benign or malignant. Patients are discharged from the hospital on the same day and receive health care at home according to the doctor's instructions.
The biopsy result of the tumor was benign, belonging to a grade one neuroendocrine tumor. Dr. Tung said this type of tumor originates from specialized cells of the body's neuroendocrine system. Due to a certain factor, the neuroendocrine cells change and no longer develop normally, forming a tumor. In the early stages, the disease has no symptoms and is often discovered incidentally through endoscopy to check health.
Doctor Huu Tung (blue shirt) performed a gastric endoscopy on a patient in October. Illustration photo: Hospital provides
Dr. Tung believes that total lesion removal is the optimal, minimally invasive method to help treat diseases of the gastrointestinal mucosa, pre-cancerous lesions and early cancer in the stomach and colorectal. The method is performed entirely endoscopically, helping to limit complications such as perforation and bleeding.
Submucosal tumors are lesions that protrude into the gastrointestinal tract (lining of the digestive tract), and can occur anywhere from the esophagus to the rectum. This type of tumor is divided into many types such as stromal tumors, leiomyomas, lipomas, granular cell tumors, neuroendocrine tumors, and lymphomas. The majority of tumors are benign, accounting for 85%.
"If gastrointestinal submucosal tumors are detected early, treatment is simple, economical, and highly effective," Dr. Tung said, adding that depending on the nature, size, and location of the tumor, the choice should be made. Choose the appropriate treatment method.
Usually, submucosal tumors less than 2 cm in size can be removed endoscopically using submucosal dissection. Tumors are large in size, causing complications and high risk of cancer, requiring intervention by invasive methods such as endoscopic resection of the entire thickness of the digestive tract wall, tumor removal through tunnel endoscopy, combined endoscopy and laparoscopic surgery to remove the tumor, laparoscopic surgery or open abdominal surgery...
If a tumor in the submucosal layer is not detected promptly, it can easily lead to complications such as gastrointestinal obstruction due to the large size of the tumor, hindering food circulation in the stomach and food digestion. Submucosal tumors can also cause bleeding.
The worst case scenario is a malignant submucosal tumor with a risk of stomach cancer. The disease is detected at a late stage, seriously affecting health, difficult to treat, and not very effective.
Doctors recommend that everyone live a healthy life and proactively have regular gastro-colon endoscopy to screen for gastrointestinal diseases, prevent cancer and dangerous complications.
People in high-risk groups such as genetic factors, relatives with cancer, obesity, HP infection, people who have had stomach surgery, people after 45 years old... need to consult a gastroenterologist about the time of endoscopy. to screen for disease.
Quyen Phan
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