Recently, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided ablation therapy has been reported as a less invasive therapy for patients with pancreatic neoplasms. Some ablation techniques, including injective ablation (using ethanol or other ablative agents), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), photodynamic therapy, and laser ablation, have been described in the literature. Among these, injective ablation and RFA are more frequently used for treating pancreatic neoplasms. Few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of EUS-guided ethanol ablation (EUS-EA) for potentially malignant solid neoplasms (neuroendocrine neoplasms or solid pseudopapillary neoplasms) and have reported a complete response (CR) rate of 60-80%. In addition, the CR rate after EUS-RFA for these lesions has been reported to be 55-100%, with no additional procedure-related adverse events (AEs). Regarding the amelioration of the symptoms of an insulinoma, the success rates of both the therapies were found to be excellent. Regarding complete tumor ablation, EUS-RFA appeared to be superior to EUS-EA. Although EUS-RFA has been reported as a safe treatment for pancreatic cancers, its effectiveness remains inadequate. Some studies have examined the effectiveness of EUS-guided injection ablation therapy for pancreatic cystic neoplasms (PCNs) and have reported CR rates that range from 35% to 79%. Alcohol-free chemotherapeutic agent ablation appears to be effective, with a low risk of AEs. However, studies on the effectiveness of EUS-RFA for PCNs are limited. In the future, EUS-guided ablation therapy could become a more widely used approach for potentially malignant and malignant pancreatic lesions.
Keywords: ablation techniques; endoscopic ultrasonography; ethanol; pancreatic neoplasms; radiofrequency ablation.
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