Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are low-grade and nonfunctional heterogeneous tumors, which is characterized by relatively slow growth and long patient survival time[20]. Gastric and rectal neuroendocrine tumors are less likely to metastasize, but they will develop rapidly once they metastasize[21]. Surgical intervention is the standard method of treatment. In this study, a total of 7 literature involving 340 patients were included. They were divided into two groups: less than 10mm and 10-16mm according to the tumor size. All the included patients were confirmed as rectal neuroendocrine tumors by endoscopy and histological examination, without lymph node or other organ metastasis and carcinoid syndrome.
The meta-analysis showed that the complete resection rate and total resection rate of ESD in tumors with a diameter of 10-16 mm was higher than those in the EMR-C group, but there was no significant difference between the two groups in the complete resection and total resection of tumors with a diameter of less than 10 mm, which was comparable to Hai-. The results are consistent with a meta-analysis by Ping Zhang et al. And at the same time this study makes up for the lack of analysis results of the study's lack of complete resection rate of 10-16mm tumors. The complete resection rate and the overall resection rate are important indicators for judging tumor treatment technology. ESD originated from the resection of gastric cancer, using various endoscopic tools to remove the lesions on the submucosal plane, because ESD can determine the edge of the tumor, and then remove the tumor. Therefore, in comparison, ESD helps to remove larger tumors in the rectum more completely..[22] . In smaller tumors, both EMR-C and ESD can show a good resection effect [23].
Meta-analysis shows that the ESD procedure takes longer than the EMR-C procedure. Because ESD endoscopic resection first requires a mixed solution injection, the mucosa is cut after the tumor is relieved, and a circular cut around the lesion is performed with an electrosurgical knife. Finally, the lesion is separated from the underlying muscle membrane by a pressurized water jet or some injection or cutting tools [24]. Compared with EMR-C using the auxiliary cap to remove after suction, the ESD procedure is more complicated, requires more tools and equipment, and has higher technical requirements for doctors. Studies have shown that there is a negative correlation between ESD operation time and doctors’ skills, and doctors with higher skills have shorter operation times.[25]. However, due to its complicated operating procedures, excluding its doctor's skills and intraoperative complications, the average time of ESD surgery is still higher than that of EMR-C.
In this study, we found that there is no significant difference between the two treatment groups of EMR-C and ESD. Bleeding and perforation are the main complications of endoscopic resection. Bleeding is divided into intraoperative and postoperative bleeding. Studies have shown that bleeding and perforation are the main complications of ESD. The reasons for this result are as follows: rectal neuroendocrine tumors have no invasive metastasis at the time of diagnosis, and the resection area is relatively small; the typical endoscopic features of rectal neuroendocrine tumors are small and smooth sessile lesions with chromaffin granular nodules in the mucosa and the mucosal surface There is no obvious deformation, and the rectal wall is thickened[17]; the rectum is fixed behind the peritoneum, so the endoscope is easy to operate in the rectum, and the intraoperative damage is small.
Six of the seven kinds of literature suggested that the recurrence and metastasis after endoscopic treatment of rectal carcinoid were 0, and only one suggested that there was a recurrence rate of 20% after ESD resection of 10-16mm tumors. Therefore, in the meta-analysis, the incidence of recurrence and metastasis after operation in the two groups was not statistically analyzed. The number of recurrence and metastasis after the two types of surgery is small, which may lead to the following results: first, the follow-up time is short. Seven kinds of literature take 3 / 6 / 12 months as the follow-up time, but the follow-up length is within two years. The 5-year survival rate of rectal carcinoid from 1993 to 2004 is 74% - 88%, which is the highest among all gastrointestinal and pancreatic nets, This is because the tumor diameter of the vast majority of rectal carcinoids is less than 1cm and limited to the submucosa. Only a part of the tumor size is greater than 2cm, and cancer invades the muscularis propria[26]. Therefore, the follow-up time of two years is not enough to explain the effectiveness of ESD and EMR-C treatment. Second, rectal neurodocenrine tumors are well-differentiated,nearly 0.5% of malignant diseases[27] , and the incidence of recurrence and metastasis is low[28] . The above reasons can explain the low incidence of recurrence and metastasis of rectal nets after endoscopic surgery in the two groups.
The results of sensitivity analysis show that our results are statistically trustworthy, but our study also has some limitations. Firstly, all the included articles are small sample retrospective studies, the research quality is relatively low, and there are few studies included. The next research will increase the number of studies. Second, the subjects of all the included articles were Asians. There were differences between Asians and European and American countries in the predilection site, predilection population, clinical stage and histological stage. Therefore, the inclusion of only Asian populations may have an impact on the results of the study. Third, the postoperative follow-up time is short, resulting in postoperative recurrence and metastasis, which may affect the results. Fourth, there are few studies on the results of hospitalization time and hospitalization expenses, which may have an impact on the safety of endoscopic treatment. Advantages of our research: first, previous studies have mostly focused on the comparison between improved traditional endoscopic resection and endoscopic resection, and the comparison between endoscopic mucosal dissection and endoscopic resection. Previous studies have confirmed that traditional endoscopic resection has the important deficiency of a low resection rate, so this kind of research is not in line with the current clinical situation. In this study, EMR-C in modified endoscopic resection was compared with ESD to find the best evidence of endoscopic technology for the treatment of rectal neuroendocrine tumors. Second, according to the fact that tumor size is an important factor affecting the choice of operation, recurrence and metastasis, all outcome indicators are classified according to tumor size, to prevent tumor size from becoming a bias factor and provide more accurate evidence for the selection of correct endoscopic surgery.
In the publication bias test, there was a publication bias in the operation time, and the reasons were analyzed as follows: the first tumor size factor; the second doctor's technical difference; the third: the number of included articles was too small. We grouped the articles into groups of less than 10 mm and greater than 10 mm according to tumor size, and then conducted a publication bias analysis again. The results showed that there was no publication bias, and the analysis of tumor size may be an important factor affecting the bias. Since too large tumors can increase the difficulty of resection of lesions, CETINSAYA B [25] et al. pointed out that the surgeon's technical level and the difficulty of specific lesions are factors affecting the operation time, which can explain the occurrence of publication bias in the results.
In conclusion, this meta-analysis shows that ESD and EMR-C have good effects on rectal tumors less than 10mm, and both have good safety and effectiveness; For tumors with a diameter less than 10mm with good pathological differentiation and no metastasis and recurrence, EMR-C should be selected as the preferred treatment scheme. The reasons are that EMR-C has a short operation time, low technical requirements for doctors, simple operation degree and may reduce hospitalization expenses. As for the research on the effectiveness of tumor treatment, postoperative prognosis depends on tumor size, aggressiveness, metastatic disease, and stage[29]. Among them, the occurrence of metastasis and recurrence after treatment is a key indicator.. Some studies have shown that tumors > 10mm are one of the important risk factors for predicting metastasis [30]. The corresponding metastasis rates of rectal neuroendocrine tumors with tumor diameters < 10mm, 10-20mm and > 20mm were 3%, 66% and 73% respectively [31] IT can be seen that for tumors > 10mm, more effective and better resection methods should be selected to prevent metastasis and recurrence. This can explain the results of this study in 10-16mm rectal tumors: ESD treatment is better than EMR-C treatment, the overall resection rate and complete resection rate is significantly higher than EMR-C group, the treatment effectiveness is significantly higher than EMR-C group, and there is no significant difference in the safety of the two groups. However, the following meta-analysis should include studies with follow-up time > 5 years, populations in European and American countries, randomized controlled trials of ESD and EMR-C, and relevant studies on hospital stay and cost to confirm the above findings.