Gastroenterology; Reply to “Letter to the Editor” (<750 w) 739 w

I appreciate the interest in our article. Jun Li and colleagues point out some critical points in considering the selection of an appropriate treatment modality for patients with T1bN0M0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We carefully read the letter from Li et al and would like to add some further comments. First, we agree that patients should not receive unnecessary invasive treatments, such as surgery and chemoradiotherapy (CRT). The Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES) guidelines recommend staging endoscopic resection as a first-line treatment for preoperatively diagnosed cT1a-MM/T1b-SM1 non-circumferential ESCC.