It has been reported that endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is of value in evaluating precise pancreatograms of the pancreatic duct (PD). Recently, institutions have tended to perform magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) for the diagnosis of PD due to post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). In small pancreatic cancer (PC), including PC in situ (PCIS) which is undetectable on cross sectional images, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and MRCP serve important roles in detecting local irregular stenosis of the PD or small cystic lesions. Subsequently, ERCP and associated serial pancreatic juice aspiration cytologic examination (SPACE) obtained by endoscopic nasopancreatic drainage (ENPD) may be useful in the diagnosis of very early-stage PC. Further prospective multicenter studies are required to establish a standard method of SPACE for the early diagnosis of PC.
Keywords: ERCP; SPACE; cytology; early diagnosis; pancreatic cancer.