Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy in Esophageal Cancer

Objectives

Accurate staging of esophageal cancer has important prognostic and management implications. Before the development of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), esophageal cancers were staged by computed tomography (CT) and laparoscopy. EUS has since become an important imaging modality in determining the extent of locoregional spread of esophageal cancer and, in certain situations, distant metastasis. The addition of EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) has only improved the accuracy of the procedure. Compared with CT, EUS-guided FNA is more accurate for local staging and results in a change in patient management in many cases [1]. Thus EUS and EUS-guided FNA have become an integral part of the preoperative staging algorithm for these patients.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the indications for EUS-guided FNA in esophageal cancer, the methods and materials needed to perform FNA, the limitations of the procedure, and the contraindications to performing it.

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