Japan Expert Seminar: Endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of colorectal tumours: Issues for future adoption in the US

Research evidence excerpt

Japan Expert Seminar: Endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of colorectal tumours: Issues for future adoption in the US

Global Research

27 July 2026ab

Japan Medtech/service Sector Equities

JapanJapan Expert Seminar: Endoscopic diagnosis and

treatment of colorectal tumours: Issues for Advanced Medical Devices

future adoption in the US Tomoko YoshiharaAnalyst

tomoko.yoshihara@ubs.com

+81-3-5208 6212

Full-scale adoption of ESD in the US will likely be one of Olympus’s growth

scenarios

UBS hosted a seminar featuring Dr. Yasushi Sano of Sano Hospital, entitled “Endoscopic

Diagnosis and Treatment of Colorectal Tumours: Challenges for Future Adoption in the

US.” Dr. Sano is a physician who, together with Olympus, developed Narrow Band

Imaging (NBI) at the National Cancer Center Hospital East (Link, Japanese only). NBI

contributed to innovation in colorectal tumour diagnosis and led to the practical

application of colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). In Japan, it has been

covered by insurance since 2012, while in the US, details of the CPT code are scheduled

to be disclosed in November 2026, and to become effective in January 2027 (Link). At

the seminar, the potential for ESD penetration in the US was suggested. We believe this

will become a key medium- to long-term theme as one of Olympus's growth scenarios in

the US.

In the US, high medical fees are driving the development of robots and

dedicated treatment tools

The annual number of colorectal cancer cases is around 150,000, both in Japan and the

US, while the annual number of colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)

cases in Japan is 35,000 in FY3/25, and we believe that the number could approach this

level in the US. It should be noted that diagnostic criteria for colorectal cancer differ