Lachter J et al. (2007) The impact of endoscopic ultrasonography on the management of suspected pancreatic cancer—a comprehensive longitudinal continuous evaluation. Pancreas 35: 130–134

Previous studies indicate that endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) are effective for the diagnosis and staging of pancreatic cancer. In this single-center retrospective study, Lachter et al. compared a review of pancreatic cancer patient records from 2001–2004 with a review of records from 1997–2001 to determine whether continued use of EUS could increase the accuracy with which patients are selected for surgery with curative intent versus no surgery.

From 1997–2001, 62 patients were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, 20 (32%) were preoperatively staged with EUS and 28 (45%) underwent surgery with curative intent: from 2001–2004, these numbers changed to 72, 34 (47%) and 17 (24%), respectively. Pancreatic cancer was detected in 32 patients who were preoperatively staged with EUS from 2001–2004, and positively identified in 14 of 18 patients who underwent EUS-guided FNA. EUS was also particularly effective for identifying resectable tumors in those patients whose clinical presentation was suggestive of pancreatic cancer, but whose transabdominal ultrasonography and/or CT scan results were negative.

The authors conclude that, in their center, increased use of EUS reduced the number of unnecessary procedures performed and they recommend that other single centers perform similar studies to assess the effects of EUS on their own clinical practice.