Endoscopic ultrasound-fine needle injection for oncological therapy

The minimal invasiveness and precision of endoscopicultrasound(EUS) has lead to both its widespread use as a diagnostic and staging modality for gastrointestinal and pancreaticobiliary malignancies, and to its expand-ing role as a therapeutic modality. EUS-guided celiac plexus neurolysis is now a well-accepted modality for palliation of pain in patients with pancreatic cancer. EUS-guided ablation, brachytherapy, fiducial marker placement, and antitumor agent injection have been described as methods of performing minimally invasive oncological therapy. EUS-fine needle injection may be performed as adjunctive, alternative, or palliative treatment. This review summarizes the studies to date that have described these methods. A literature search using the Pub Med/MEDLINE databases was performed. While most published studies to date are limited with disappointing outcomes, the concept of a role of EUS in oncological therapy seems promising.