Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2021; 13(12): 1863-1879
Published online Dec 15, 2021. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v13.i12.1863
Role of endoscopic ultrasound in anticancer therapy: Current evidence and future perspectives
Andre Bratanic, Dorotea Bozic, Antonio Mestrovic, Dinko Martinovic, Marko Kumric, Tina Ticinovic Kurir, Josko Bozic
Andre Bratanic, Dorotea Bozic, Antonio Mestrovic, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital of Split, Split 21000, Croatia
Dinko Martinovic, Marko Kumric, Tina Ticinovic Kurir, Josko Bozic, Department of Pathophysiology, University of Split School of Medicine, Split 21000, Croatia
Tina Ticinovic Kurir, Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital of Split, Split 21000, Croatia
Author contributions: Bratanic A, Bozic D, Kumric M, Ticinovic Kurir T, and Bozic J conceptualized, wrote the original draft, and supervised the work; Bratanic A, Martinovic D, and Mestrovic A reviewed the literature; all authors contributed to the final draft of the manuscript and approved of the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Josko Bozic, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathophysiology, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2, Split 21000, Croatia.josko.bozic@mefst.hr
Received: February 21, 2021
Peer-review started: February 21, 2021
First decision: May 8, 2021
Revised: May 17, 2021
Accepted: August 27, 2021
Article in press: August 27, 2021
Published online: December 15, 2021
Processing time: 296 Days and 1.7 Hours
Abstract

The digestive system is one of the most common sites of malignancies in humans. Since gastrointestinal tumors represent a massive global health burden both in terms of morbidity and health care expenditures, scientists continuously develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic methods to ameliorate the detrimental effects of this group of diseases. Apart from the well-established role of the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in the diagnostic course of gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary malignancies, we have recently become acquainted with a vast array of its therapeutic possibilities. A multitude of previously established, evidence-based methods that might now be guided by the EUS emerged: Radiofrequency ablation, brachytherapy, fine needle injection, celiac plexus neurolysis, and endoscopic submucosal dissection. In this review we endeavored to provide a comprehensive overview of the role of these methods in different malignancies of the digestive system, primarily in the treatment and symptom control in pancreatic cancer, and additionally in the management of hepatic, gastrointestinal tumors, and pancreatic cysts.

Keywords: Pancreatic cancer; Endoscopic ultrasound; Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle injection; Pancreatic cyst; Gastrointestinal tumor; Portal vein

Core Tip: Apart from the well-established role of the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) along the diagnostic path of gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary malignancies, the EUS recently emerged as a carrier of various therapeutic modalities. In this review we sought to give a comprehensive overview of the role of various established methods that might now be guided by the EUS in different malignancies of the digestive system, primarily regarding the treatment and symptom control in pancreatic cancer, and additionally in the management of hepatic, gastrointestinal tumors, and pancreatic cysts.