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Long Term Outcomes After EUS-guided Ablation for Cystic Tumors of the Pancreas

Phase 2
Conditions
Cystic Tumors of the Pancreas
Interventions
Procedure: Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided ethanol lavage with paclitaxel injection
Registration Number
NCT00689715
Lead Sponsor
Asan Medical Center
Brief Summary

Cystic lesions of the pancreas are defined as round, fluid-filled structures within the pancreas detected by radiologic imaging. With widespread use of cross-sectional imaging modalities for various indications, such lesions are now detected in nearly 20% of abdominal imagings, with the majority discovered incidentally. These lesions encompass a wide spectrum of histopathologic entities and biologic behavior, ranging from benign to malignant. Substantial morphologic overlap restricts the accuracy in diagnosing specific type of cystic lesion in spite of recent advances in diagnostic modalities. It is a challenging issue to differentiate each cystic lesion and make a management plan since cystic lesions that are relatively common and asymptomatic may possess malignant potential. Although inflammatory pseudocysts were thought to account for 80-90% of cystic lesions of the pancreas, with cystic tumors accounting for the remaining,10 the latter may occur much more frequently than traditionally estimated.

To date, surgical resection is generally recommended for malignant and potentially malignant lesions. However, surgical resection of the pancreas still carries substantial morbidity and sometimes mortality, especially for the cystic lesion located in the head portion. Therefore, management should be individualized by risk-benefit analysis for each patient.

Recently, a pilot study of EUS-guided ethanol lavage for cystic tumors of the pancreas reported that complete resolution was achieved in only one-third of patients even though epithelial lining ablation was demonstrated in all resected specimens. Therefore, more effective treatment modalities or ablation agents are required to improve treatment responses. Intratumoral or intraperitoneal injection of chemotherapeutic agent has been used for endobronchial lesions of lung cancer, brain tumors and advanced ovarian cancer.13-16 EUS-guided injection of antitumor material has been reported in advanced pancreatic cancer. Although local injection of chemotherapeutic agents into pancreatic cystic tumors has not yet been reported, it is reasonable to suggest that such an approach may have an additive effect on ablation of the epithelial lining of cystic tumor when combined with ethanol lavage.

Paclitaxel, a widely used chemotherapeutic agent, inhibits cell processes that are dependent on microtubule turnover. Due to its highly hydrophobic nature,19 paclitaxel is expected to exert its effect longer when instilled within a closed cavity such as a cyst. The hydrophobic and viscous nature of paclitaxel may reduce the possibility of it leaking through a puncture site and causing complications.

The present study evaluated safety, feasibility and response following EUS-guided ethanol lavage with paclitaxel injection (EUS-EP) for treating cystic tumors of the pancreas.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
UNKNOWN
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
50
Inclusion Criteria
  • uni- or oligo-locular cystic tumors
  • indeterminate cystic tumors for which EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) was required to obtain additional information
  • cystic tumors that increased in size during the observation period
Exclusion Criteria
  • cystic tumors which had the typical morphology of serous cystadenomas (i.e., honeycomb appearance) and pseudocysts (i.e., parenchymal changes)
  • evidence of communication between the cystic lesion and the main pancreatic duct according to endoscopic retrograde pancreatograms
  • overt carcinomas with peripancreatic invasion
  • patients with a bleeding tendency (prothrombin time > 1.5 international normalized ratio [INR] or platelet count < 50,000/μL).

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
EPEndoscopic ultrasonography-guided ethanol lavage with paclitaxel injectionSingle treatment arm
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Incidence of adverse events Treatment response by change of calculated cyst volumeearly (< 7 days) and late (> 7days) adverse events
recurrence during follow upany recurrence of cyst after complete resolution during at least 3 years follow up
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
predictive factors for complete resolution1 year
treatment response1 year

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine

🇰🇷

Seoul, Korea, Republic of

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