Therapeutic effect of argon plasma coagulation on small malignant gastrointestinal tumors.

In endoscopy, argon plasma coagulation (APC) is a new principle of non-contact electrocoagulation and has proved to be a sufficient tool for palliative endoscopic treatment of gastrointestinal neoplasms, predominantly of the oesophagus and colorectum. In a study of 67 patients suffering from histologically confirmed and endosonographic T1-staged tumours of the gastrointestinum, 10 patients were selected for endoscopic APC treatment because of the impossibility of surgical therapy. Although the application was primarily of a palliative nature, in 9 of 10 cases of minor neoplasms, no further tumour could be detected in biopsies during the observation period (9.45 +/- 2.8 months). One patient was not cured locally. In none of the patients was any serious complication noticed during the outpatient follow-up. The effective results and lack of severe complications suggest this technique as an alternative therapy in selected patients with smaller gastrointestinal tumours.