Background: In 2010, undifferentiated early-stage gastric cancers (EGCs; ≤1 cm and confined to the mucosa) were included in the expanded criteria for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), as established by the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association. Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the newly expanded criteria of ESD for EGCs. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies published between January 1, 2010 and July 10, 2014. These studies were collected by 2 authors and then analyzed with RevMan 5.0. Results: Six studies including 6,687 patients were identified. Compared to the standard group (SG), the expanded group (EG) had higher bleeding (OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.02-2.68), perforation (OR 2.03; 95% CI 1.25-3.31), positive lateral margin rates (OR 16.88; 95% CI 3.83-74.5) and lower en bloc resection rate (OR 0.48; 95% CI 0.34-0.70). The local recurrence (OR 2.46; 95% CI 0.31-19.23) and total survival rates (OR 0.92; 95% CI 0.76-1.12) between the 2 groups were not statistically different. Conclusions: Considering the similar rates of local recurrence and total survival between the SG and EG, the use of ESD for the management of EGCs that meet the expanded criteria could be considered a safe and effective treatment method.