Endoscopy 2025; 57(05): 504-554
DOI: 10.1055/a-2529-5025
Guideline

Management of epithelial precancerous conditions and early neoplasia of the stomach (MAPS III): European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), European Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group (EHMSG) and European Society of Pathology (ESP) Guideline update 2025

Mário Dinis-Ribeiro
1   Precancerous Lesions and Early Cancer Management Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI‐IPOP)/CI‐IPOP@RISE (Health Research Group), Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal
2   Gastroenterology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal
,
1   Precancerous Lesions and Early Cancer Management Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI‐IPOP)/CI‐IPOP@RISE (Health Research Group), Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal
2   Gastroenterology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal
,
Hugo Uchima
3   Endoscopy Unit Gastroenterology Department Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
4   Endoscopy Unit, Teknon Medical Center, Barcelona, Spain
,
5   Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
,
Jan Bornschein
6   Medical Research Council Translational Immune Discovery Unit (MRC TIDU), Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
7   Translational Gastroenterology and Liver Unit, Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
,
Tamara Matysiak-Budnik
8   Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology & Digestive Oncology, Institut des Maladies de l’Appareil Digestif, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes Nantes, France
9   INSERM, Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology, University of Nantes, Nantes, France
,
10   Agia Olga General Hospital of Nea Ionia Konstantopouleio, Athens, Greece
,
11   Gastroenterology Department, Centro Hospitalar S. João, Porto, Portugal
12   Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal
13   University of Porto, Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), Instituto de Investigação e Inovação na Saúde (I3S), Porto, Portugal
,
14   Gastroenterology Department, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Coimbra (IPO Coimbra), Coimbra, Portugal
15   Precancerous Lesions and Early Cancer Management Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI‐IPOP)/CI‐IPOP@RISE (Health Research Group), RISE@CI-IPO, (Health Research Network), Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto, Portugal
,
8   Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology & Digestive Oncology, Institut des Maladies de l’Appareil Digestif, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes Nantes, France
9   INSERM, Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology, University of Nantes, Nantes, France
,
16   Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Sant’Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
,
17   Gastroenterology Department, ICMDM, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
18   Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
19   Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
20   Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Spain
,
21   2nd Department of Internal Medicine – Gastroenterology and Geriatrics, University Hospital Olomouc, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic
22   Department of Surgery, University Hospital Brno, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
23   Department of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy, Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
,
2   Gastroenterology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal
,
24   Gastroenterology, Second Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Charles University of Prague, Czech Republic
,
Alexander Link
25   Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg Germany
,
Pedro Marcos
26   Department of Gastroenterology, Pêro da Covilhã Hospital, Covilhã, Portugal
27   Department of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
,
Ricardo Marcos-Pinto
15   Precancerous Lesions and Early Cancer Management Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI‐IPOP)/CI‐IPOP@RISE (Health Research Group), RISE@CI-IPO, (Health Research Network), Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto, Portugal
28   Gastroenterology Department, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Porto, Portugal
29   Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
,
Leticia Moreira
17   Gastroenterology Department, ICMDM, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
20   Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Spain
,
Ana Carina Pereira
1   Precancerous Lesions and Early Cancer Management Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI‐IPOP)/CI‐IPOP@RISE (Health Research Group), Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal
,
15   Precancerous Lesions and Early Cancer Management Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI‐IPOP)/CI‐IPOP@RISE (Health Research Group), RISE@CI-IPO, (Health Research Network), Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto, Portugal
30   Department of Surgery and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto (FMUP), Portugal
31   Gastroenterology and Clinical Research, Unilabs Portugal
,
Marcin Romanczyk
32   Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Academy of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
33   Endoterapia, H-T. Centrum Medyczne, Tychy, Poland
,
Filipa Fontes
1   Precancerous Lesions and Early Cancer Management Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI‐IPOP)/CI‐IPOP@RISE (Health Research Group), Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal
34   Public Health and Forensic Sciences, and Medical Education Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
,
Cesare Hassan
35   Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy
36   IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
,
37   Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
38   Department of Translational Research in Gastrointestinal Diseases (TARGID), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
,
Roger Feakins
39   Department of Cellular Pathology, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
40   University College London, London, United Kingdom
,
Christian Schulz
41   Department of Medicine II, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Germany
,
42   Hepatogastroenterology Unit, Second Department of Internal Medicine-Propaedeutic, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Attikon University General Hospital, Athens, Greece
,
Fatima Carneiro
43   Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology at the University of Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal
44   Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
45   Pathology Department, Centro Hospitalar de São João and Faculty of Medicine, Porto, Portugal
,
Ernst J. Kuipers
46   Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
› Author Affiliations
Preview

Main Recommendations

At a population level, the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE), the European Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group (EHMSG), and the European Society of Pathology (ESP) suggest endoscopic screening for gastric cancer (and precancerous conditions) in high-risk regions (age-standardized rate [ASR] > 20 per 100 000 person-years) every 2 to 3 years or, if cost–effectiveness has been proven, in intermediate risk regions (ASR 10–20 per 100 000 person-years) every 5 years, but not in low-risk regions (ASR < 10).

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommend that irrespective of country of origin, individual gastric risk assessment and stratification of precancerous conditions is recommended for first-time gastroscopy.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP suggest that gastric cancer screening or surveillance in asymptomatic individuals over 80 should be discontinued or not started, and that patients’ comorbidities should be considered when treatment of superficial lesions is planned.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommend that a high quality endoscopy including the use of virtual chromoendoscopy (VCE), after proper training, is performed for screening, diagnosis, and staging of precancerous conditions (atrophy and intestinal metaplasia) and lesions (dysplasia or cancer), as well as after endoscopic therapy. VCE should be used to guide the sampling site for biopsies in the case of suspected neoplastic lesions as well as to guide biopsies for diagnosis and staging of gastric precancerous conditions, with random biopsies to be taken in the absence of endoscopically suspected changes. When there is a suspected early gastric neoplastic lesion, it should be properly described (location, size, Paris classification, vascular and mucosal pattern), photodocumented, and two targeted biopsies taken.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP do not recommend routine performance of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or positron emission tomography (PET)-CT prior to endoscopic resection unless there are signs of deep submucosal invasion or if the lesion is not considered suitable for endoscopic resection.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommend endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for differentiated gastric lesions clinically staged as dysplastic (low grade and high grade) or as intramucosal carcinoma (of any size if not ulcerated or ≤ 30 mm if ulcerated), with EMR being an alternative for Paris 0-IIa lesions of size ≤ 10 mm with low likelihood of malignancy.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP suggest that a decision about ESD can be considered for malignant lesions clinically staged as having minimal submucosal invasion if differentiated and ≤ 30 mm; or for malignant lesions clinically staged as intramucosal, undifferentiated and ≤ 20 mm; and in both cases with no ulcerative findings.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommends patient management based on the following histological risk after endoscopic resection:

Curative/very low-risk resection (lymph node metastasis [LNM] risk < 0.5 %–1 %): en bloc R0 resection; dysplastic/pT1a, differentiated lesion, no lymphovascular invasion, independent of size if no ulceration and ≤ 30 mm if ulcerated. No further staging procedure or treatment is recommended.

Curative/low-risk resection (LNM risk < 3 %): en bloc R0 resection; lesion with no lymphovascular invasion and: a) pT1b, invasion ≤ 500 µm, differentiated, size ≤ 30 mm; or b) pT1a, undifferentiated, size ≤ 20 mm and no ulceration. Staging should be completed, and further treatment is generally not necessary, but a multidisciplinary discussion is required.

Local-risk resection (very low risk of LNM but increased risk of local persistence/recurrence): Piecemeal resection or tumor-positive horizontal margin of a lesion otherwise meeting curative/very low-risk criteria (or meeting low-risk criteria provided that there is no submucosal invasive tumor at the resection margin in the case of piecemeal resection or tumor-positive horizontal margin for pT1b lesions [invasion ≤ 500 µm; well-differentiated; size ≤ 30 mm, and VM0]). Endoscopic surveillance/re-treatment is recommended rather than other additional treatment.

High-risk resection (noncurative): Any lesion with any of the following: (a) a positive vertical margin (if carcinoma) or lymphovascular invasion or deep submucosal invasion (> 500 µm from the muscularis mucosae); (b) poorly differentiated lesions if ulceration or size > 20 mm; (c) pT1b differentiated lesions with submucosal invasion ≤ 500 µm with size > 30 mm; or (d) intramucosal ulcerative lesion with size > 30 mm. Complete staging and strong consideration for additional treatments (surgery) in multidisciplinary discussion.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP suggest the use of validated endoscopic classifications of atrophy (e. g. Kimura–Takemoto) or intestinal metaplasia (e. g. endoscopic grading of gastric intestinal metaplasia [EGGIM]) to endoscopically stage precancerous conditions and stratify the risk for gastric cancer.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommend that biopsies should be taken from at least two topographic sites (2 biopsies from the antrum/incisura and 2 from the corpus, guided by VCE) in two separate, clearly labeled vials. Additional biopsy from the incisura is optional.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommend that patients with extensive endoscopic changes (Kimura C3 + or EGGIM 5 +) or advanced histological stages of atrophic gastritis (severe atrophic changes or intestinal metaplasia, or changes in both antrum and corpus, operative link on gastritis assessment/operative link on gastric intestinal metaplasia [OLGA/OLGIM] III/IV) should be followed up with high quality endoscopy every 3 years, irrespective of the individual’s country of origin.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommend that no surveillance is proposed for patients with mild to moderate atrophy or intestinal metaplasia restricted to the antrum, in the absence of endoscopic signs of extensive lesions or other risk factors (family history, incomplete intestinal metaplasia, persistent H. pylori infection). This group constitutes most individuals found in clinical practice.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommend H. pylori eradication for patients with precancerous conditions and after endoscopic or surgical therapy.

ESGE/EHMSG/ESP recommend that patients should be advised to stop smoking and low-dose daily aspirin use may be considered for the prevention of gastric cancer in selected individuals with high risk for cardiovascular events.

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Article published online:
20 March 2025

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