Role of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

Abstract

For pathological diagnosis of early-stage pancreatic cancer, in which no pancreatic mass has formed, and abnormal pancreatic duct findings are often the trigger for diagnosis, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for pathological diagnosis is essential. The method of placing an endoscopic nasopancreatic catheter and submitting multiple pancreatic juice cytology is called SPACE (serial pancreatic juice aspiration cytologic examination), and excellent diagnostic performance has been reported in the pathological diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma in situ for small pancreatic cancers. Although the risk of acute pancreatitis after diagnostic ERCP is by no means low, ERCP-based cytology, especially SPACE, plays a major role in definitively diagnosing pancreatic cancer at an early stage when a long-term prognosis can be expected.