Prevalence of potentially malignant lesions in small gastric subepithelial lesions undergoing surgical resection according to the risk features

Objectives: Current guidelines recommend endoscopic surveillance for small subepithelial lesions (SELs).However, differentiating neoplastic lesions from benign entities based solely on imaging findings remains challenging.This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of potentially malignant lesions in patients with small gastric SELs who underwent surgical resection. Materials and Methods:We retrospectively analyzed 222 surgically resected small gastric SELs (preoperatively measured as ≤3 cm) from 220 patients treated between 2014 and 2022.Patients were stratified into three risk groups according to tumor size (≥2 cm), interval growth, and high-risk features on endoscopic ultrasonography and computed tomography: Group 1, lesions