A Review of Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Chemoablative Techniques for Pancreatic Cystic Lesions

Diagnostics (Basel). 2023 Jan 17;13(3):344. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13030344.

Abstract

Pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) are known precursors to pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer worldwide. Surgical removal or pancreatectomies remain the central approach to managing precancerous high-risk PCLs. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided therapeutic management of PCLs is a novel management strategy for patients with prohibitive surgical risks. Various ablation techniques have been explored in previous studies utilizing EUS-guided fine needle injection (FNI) of alcohol and chemotherapeutic agents. This review article focuses on EUS-FNI and chemoablation, encompassing the evolution of chemoablation, pancreatic cyst selection, chemotherapy drug selection, including novel agents, and a discussion of its safety and efficacy.

Keywords: EUS-FNI; EUS-guided chemoablation; EUS-nCLE; LSAM-PTX; intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms; mucinous cystic neoplasms; pancreatic cancer; pancreatic cystic lesions.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding