Abstract

Pancreatic cancer, the 4th leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, has a very poor prognosis. Cholangiocarcinoma originates from either intrahepatic or extrahepatic bile duct, and its incidence is gradually increasing worldwide. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with brush cytology has a high false-negative rate for the diagnosis of biliary malignancy. Recently, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) has emerged as the potential modality to detect pancreatic cancer. EUS-guided fine needle aspiration for cytologic analysis made it possible to overcome the obstacle in differentiating between benign and malignant lesions in the pancreatobiliary lesion, and it has been well established as a safe and effective procedure. Herein, the clinical application of EUS in the diagnosis of pancreatobiliary cancer was reviewed.

• Keywords: Endoscopic ultrasonography;EUS-guided fine needle aspiration;Pancreatic cancer;Cholangiocarcinoma;