Standardized training program on diagnosis of early gastrointestinal cancers using advanced optical endoscopy in Asia

BackgroundGastrointestinal (GI) cancers are diagnosed at advanced stage in most of the Asia Pacific countries. The Asian NBI group (ANBIG) was established with an objective to conduct training in endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of early GI cancers using standardized training module. This is a cohort study on the effectiveness of standardized training module for NBI on diagnosis of early GI cancers in Asia.MethodThis is a prospectively collected database from workshops conducted. All the workshops were conducted in a standardized program, including pre-test, lectures on NBI diagnosis of early esophageal, gastric and colorectal cancers, case discussion, live demonstration or video presentation and hands-on training on EMR/ESD. After completion of the training course, a post-test was conducted to reassess the knowledge gained. The pre-training and post-training tests were standardized questions addressing 4 domain of knowledge, including basic knowledge of imaging, diagnosis of GI neoplasia.ResultsThe ANBIG workshops were conducted in Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Mongolia and Myanmar, Australia, Saudi Arabia. Comparing the pre-training and the post-training test results, there was a significant overall improvement after the workshop training in the post-test results. ConclusionA standardized training module on image enhanced endoscopy improved the diagnostic ability and quality for endoscopists in recognition of early gastrointestinal cancers.