Differences in diagnostic criteria for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma between Japanese and Western pathologists

In Japan, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is diagnosed mainly based on nuclear criteria, even in cases judged to be noninvasive low grade dysplasia in the West. This difference in diagnostic practice may contribute to the relatively high incidence rate and good prognosis of superficial esophageal carcinoma in Japan. To improve the comparability of research data, the authors recommend that high grade dysplasia, noninvasive carcinoma, and suspected carcinoma be grouped together into one category of "noninvasive high grade neoplasia." [See editorial on pages 969-70, this issue.]