July 1 - EUS Increases Survival Time for Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Researchers searching for improved technologies that could detect pancreatic cancer earlier-and treat it-are studying the effects of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in assessing and staging pancreatic cancers. EUS is a nonsurgical assessment of diseases that involves passing a thin, flexible tube (an endoscope fitted with a mini-ultrasound device) into the organ to assess the progress of the cancer. By localizing and identifying suspected lesions, more definitive diagnoses are possible, potentially leading to curative surgery. The study was presented by Feng Li, MD, a Gastroenterology Fellow at Mayo Clinic in Arizona on May 20 at Digestive Disease Week 2008 in San Diego.

"Good initial investigation by EUS makes a significant difference for patients with pancreatic cancer," says Ananya Das, MD, lead investigator and the associate chair of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. "Though such diagnostic evaluation not available everywhere, it has shown to be a marker for better care and treatment planning."

The study evaluated the association between EUS performance and pancreatic cancer survival. Investigators reviewed the SEER-Medicare database of patients receiving treatment between January 1994 and December 2002. In the study, the records of 4,236 patients with pancreatic cancer were assessed and broken into two groups—those who underwent EUS (12% of the sample) and those who did not (88%). The researchers found that after they controlled for age, race, gender, and comorbidities, those who underwent EUS at the time of diagnosis had a longer average survival time (9 months) than those who did not (5 months).

Pancreatic cancer, even when diagnosed early, often has a poor prognosis. Signs and symptoms may not appear until the cancer is advanced and surgical removal is not possible. As a result, pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of death. However, a small percentage of pancreatic cancers are caught early enough to benefit from EUS, which may lead to improved survival rates.

Source: Mayo Clinic

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