Tokunaga M, et al. - Considering the randomized controlled trials, including the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG) 0912 trial, suggesting the safety of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for select healthy patients, researchers investigated the feasibility of LADG in patients who do not meet trial eligibility criteria. They retrospectively reviewed 547 patients with clinical stage I gastric cancer who underwent distal or pylorus-preserving gastrectomy and identified LADG as safe as open distal gastrectomy in patients who did not meet the eligibility criteria of JCOG 0912. Hence the findings suggest that for patients with stage I gastric cancer, LADG could be considered as a standard treatment option, regardless of their general condition.