Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Ultrasonography in upper GI Tract Cancer

The results from the author s ph.d. demonstrated the value of EUS as a single imaging modality in the pretherapeutic assessment of patients with esophageal, gastric and pancreatic cancer. But it was also evident that this technology alone was unable to perform a complete evaluation of these patients. With the results from the present work the author has defined and tested a new evaluation strategy based on the combination of EUS and Laparoscopic Ultrasonography (LUS). This combination was supplemented by EUS and LUS guided biopsies in those situations, where a malignant biopsy would change the subsequent treatment strategy. The combination of EUS and LUS was lenient, safe and cost-effective and at the same time provided additional, important pretherapeutic information regarding possible treatment options and the prognosis. It may be speculated if the improved patient selection has had a positive impact on the prognosis of the R0 resected patients. The combined strategy may also allow a more homogenous selection of patients for future treatment trials.

Auteur

Graduated from Odense University in 1988. Defended his thesis on Endoscopic Ultrasonography and upper GI tract cancer in 1996 and became a certified specialist in General Surgery in 2000 and in Surgical Gastroenterology in 2003. Appointed as professor at the University of Southern Denmark in 2012.

Texte du rabat

The results from the author s ph.d. demonstrated the value of EUS as a single imaging modality in the pretherapeutic assessment of patients with esophageal, gastric and pancreatic cancer. But it was also evident that this technology alone was unable to perform a complete evaluation of these patients. With the results from the present work the author has defined and tested a new evaluation strategy based on the combination of EUS and Laparoscopic Ultrasonography (LUS). This combination was supplemented by EUS and LUS guided biopsies in those situations, where a malignant biopsy would change the subsequent treatment strategy. The combination of EUS and LUS was lenient, safe and cost-effective and at the same time provided additional, important pretherapeutic information regarding possible treatment options and the prognosis. It may be speculated if the improved patient selection has had a positive impact on the prognosis of the R0 resected patients. The combined strategy may also allow a more homogenous selection of patients for future treatment trials.