Role of Staging Laparoscopy for Pancreatic Cancers

Staging laparoscopy, as a less-invasive approach for the detection of peritoneal metastases compared with traditional open exploration, became a commonly accepted practice for treating patients with presumed resectable pancreatic cancer in the1990s [1]. A decade later, with the introduction of high-resolution CT scans, a selective approach became common practice [2]. Laparoscopy was considered in what were deemed “high-risk” patients without ever determining reliable selection criteria, resulting in laparotomy without therapeutic benefit in 6–26% of all patients who undergo operative evaluation [3, 4]. Today, with the introduction of high-resolution laparoscopes, the indication for staging laparoscopy in pancreatic cancer is evolving and remains under debate. The aim of this article is to evaluate the efficacy of staging laparoscopy in pancreatic cancer, with the goal of identifying an optimal operative staging strategy for this patient group.