Endoscopic Ultrasonography in High-Risk Population for Pancreatic Cancer

ABSTRACT Introduction Members of families with familial pancreatic cancer (FPC) have high risk of developing pancreatic cancer (PC). The risk increases with the number of PC in family members. In the last decade, several centers around the world are using screening programs for this high risk population, most of them based on endoscopic ultrasonography (EU) and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This work assesses the findings of screening in individuals at high risk of PC. Material and methods It has recommended screening for PC in individuals at high risk of this cancer by EU and CT. In those cases in which it was suspected some alteration, we proceeded to MRI and/or puncture of the pancreatic suspicious lesions. Results Since October 2011, we indicated the screening of 50 individuals belonging to 10 families. 9 families had FPC and one had a hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome with a case of PC. They have been identified 4 lesions suspicious for EU, none of these correlated with suspected by CT or MRI. Suspicious lesions were found in 3 members of the same family and another from another family, all with FPC. It has been suggested puncture injuries in 2 cases and in both cases, the cytology results were negative. In the other two cases it was decided to follow up. Conclusions Preliminary results confirm that the EU can detect small lesions undetectable by CT or conventional MRI. The phenotype found by EU has already been described in patients with strong family history of PC. It should explore the utility of other imaging tests such as MRI with diffusion, for monitoring individuals at high risk of PC. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.