Comparison of EUS-guided conventional smear and liquid-based cytology in pancreatic lesions: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background and study aims Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) has limitations of inadequate sampling and false-negative results for malignancy. It has been performed using conventional smear (CS) cytology with rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) with reasonable diagnostic accuracy. An alternative to ROSE is liquid-based cytology (LBC). Commonly used LBC techniques include precipitation-based (SurePath™) and filtration-based (ThinPrep ® , CellPrep ® ). Data regarding the diagnostic efficacy of LBC compared with CS are limited. Methods Multiple databases were searched through March 2020 to identify studies reporting diagnostic yield of EUS-guided CS and LBC in pancreatic lesions. Pooled diagnostic odds and rates of performance for the cytologic diagnoses of benign, suspicious, and malignant lesions were calculated. Diagnostic efficacy was evaluated by pooled rates of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). Results Nine studies with a total of 1308 patients were included in our final analysis. Pooled diagnostic odds of CS cytology were 1.69 (CI 1.02-2.79) and 0.39 (CI 0.19-0.8) for malignant lesions when compared to filtration-based and precipitation-based LBC techniques, respectively. For CS, precipitation-based and filtration-based LBC, pooled diagnostic accuracy was 79.7 %, 85.2 %, 77.3 %, sensitivity was 79.2 %, 83.6 %, 68.3 %, and specificity was 99.4 %, 99.5 %, 99.5 %, respectively. Conclusions The precipitation-based LBC technique (SurePath™) had superior diagnostic odds for malignant pancreatic lesions compared with CS cytology in the absence of ROSE. It showed superior accuracy and sensitivity, but comparable specificity and PPV. Diagnostic odds of CS cytology in the absence of ROSE were superior to the filtration-based LBC technique (ThinPrep ® , Cellprep ® ) for diagnosing malignant pancreatic lesions.

Clinical efficacy and safety of palliative esophageal stenting without fluoroscopy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background and study aims Despite advances in curative treatments for esophageal cancer, many patients often present with advanced disease. Dysphagia resulting in significant weight loss and malnutrition leads to poor quality of life. Palliative esophageal stenting with self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) helps alleviate symptoms and prolongs survival. However, access to fluoroscopy may be limited at certain centers causing delay in patient care. Methods We searched multiple databases from inception to November 2019 to identify studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of endoscopic palliative esophageal stenting and selected only those studies where fluoroscopic guidance was not used. Our primary aim was to calculate the overall technical as well as clinical success. Using meta-regression analysis, we also evaluated the effect of tumor location and obstruction length on overall technical and clinical success. Results A total of 1778 patients from 17 studies were analyzed. A total of 2036 stents were placed without the aid of fluoroscopy. The pooled rate of technical success was 94.7 % (CI 89.9-97.3, PI 55-99; I 2  = 85) and clinical success was 82.1 % (CI 67.1-91.2, PI 24-99; I 2  = 87). Based on meta-regression analysis both the length of obstruction and tumor location did not have any statistically significant effect on technical and clinical success. The pooled rate of adverse events was 4.1 % (CI 2.4-7.2; I 2  = 72) for stent migration, 8.1 % (CI 4.1-15.4; I 2  = 89) for tumor overgrowth and 1.2 % (CI 0.7-2; I 2  = 0) for perforation. The most frequent clinical adverse event was retro-sternal chest pain. Conclusion Palliative esophageal stenting without fluoroscopy using SEMS is both safe and effective in patients with advanced esophageal cancer.

Elevating pancreatic cystic lesion stratification: Current and future pancreatic cancer biomarker(s).

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an incredibly deadly disease with a 5-year survival rate of 9%. The presence of pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) confers an increased likelihood of future pancreatic cancer in patients placing them in a high-risk category. Discerning concurrent malignancy and risk of future PCL progression to cancer must be carefully and accurately determined to improve survival outcomes and avoid unnecessary morbidity of pancreatic resection. Unfortunately, current image-based guidelines are inadequate to distinguish benign from malignant lesions. There continues to be a need for accurate molecular and imaging biomarker(s) capable of identifying malignant PCLs and predicting the malignant potential of PCLs to enable risk stratification and effective intervention management. This review provides an update on the current status of biomarkers from pancreatic cystic fluid, pancreatic juice, and seromic molecular analyses and discusses the potential of radiomics for differentiating PCLs harboring cancer from those that do not.

Utility of endoscopic ultrasound and endoscopy in diagnosis and management of hepatocellular carcinoma and its complications: What does endoscopic ultrasonography offer above and beyond conventional cross-sectional imaging?

Hepatocellular carcinoma constitutes over 90% of the primary liver tumors, the rest being cholangiocarcinoma. It has an insidious presentation, which is responsible for the delayed presentation. Hence, the management strategy relies on screening to diagnose it an early stage for curative resection and/or treatment with local ablative techniques or chemotherapy. However, even with different screening programs, more than 60% of tumors are still detected at an advanced stage, leading to an unchanged mortality rate, thereby implying a room for improvement in the screening and diagnostic process. In the last few years, there has been evolution of utility of endoscopy, specifically endoscopic ultrasonography along with Fine needle aspiration, for this purpose, which we comprehensively review in this article.