Role of Endoscopy in Pancreatic Cancer Patients
A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Imaging and Theranostics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021)
Special Issue Editor
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly lethal cancer. Despite significant advancement in cancer treatment, the mortality rate of PC is nearly identical to the incidence rates. Early detection of tumors or its precursor lesions with dysplasia may be the most effective approach to improve survival. Screening strategies should include identification of the population at high risk of developing PC, and an intense application of screening tools with adequate sensitivity to detect PC at an early curable stage. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) seem to be the most valuable endoscopic modalities for PC screening, diagnosis, and palliative treatments. EUS has an additional advantage over MRI by being able to obtain tissue samples during the same examination. Several questions remain unanswered at this time regarding the age to begin screening, frequency of screening, management of asymptomatic pancreatic lesions detected on screening, timing of resection, and extent of surgery and impact of screening on survival. Novel techniques such as needle-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (nCLE) and digital cholangioscopy along with biomarkers may be helpful to improve PC diagnosis and treatments. Further studies will hopefully lead to the development of strategies combining endoscopic tools with other technological/biological advancements that will be cost-effective and have an impact on survival.
The aim of this Special Issue is to collect new data and evidence on the advancements and the role of endoscopy in PC patients.
Keywords
- Survival
- Tumor
- EUS
- ERCP
- Progression
- FNA
- FNB
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