Editorial concerning “Long-term outcomes of laparoscopic versus open surgery for clinical stage I gastric cancer: the LOC-1 study”

We are writing in regard to a multicenter retrospective cohort study evaluating the oncological outcome of laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) in comparison to open gastrectomy (OG) for clinical stage I gastric cancer treatment, the LOC-1 study (1). Although this study was similar to previous reports comparing LG and OG (2-4), the authors sought to add meaning to their study using propensity score matching (PSM). The value of this study was that authors used strict propensity score estimation based on 30 covariates and presented their detailed matching process.