Impact of endoscopic ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation in managing pancreatic malignancy

Pancreatic malignancy is still the most lethal gastrointestinal malignancy. It has a very poor prognosis with low survival rate. Surgery is still the main treatment option for pancreatic malignancy. Most patients already have locally advanced and even late stage disease due to non-specific abdominal symptoms. Even though some cases are still suitable for surgical treatment, due to its aggressiveness adjuvant chemotherapy is becoming the standard treatment for controlling the disease. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a thermal therapy that has been used as one of the standard treatments for liver malignancy. It can also be performed intraoperatively. There are several reports on percutaneous RFA treatment for pancreatic malignancy using transabdominal ultrasound and guided by computed tomography scan. However, due to its anatomical location and the risk of high radiation exposure, these methods seem to be very limited. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) has been widely used for pancreatic abnormality evaluation due to its ability to detect more accurately, especially small pancreatic lesions, compared to other imaging modalities. By the EUS approach, it is easier to achieve good visualization of tumor ablation and necrosis as the echoendoscope position is closer to the tumor area. Based on studies and a recent meta-analysis, EUS-guided RFA is a promising treatment approach for most pancreatic malignancy cases, but most studies only collected data from a small sample size. Larger studies are needed before clinical recommendations can be made.