Pancreatic Fine Needle Biopsy Accuracy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The diagnostic accuracy of Liquid Based Cytology versus direct formalin fixation of endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle pancreatic biopsies: a prospective comparative tissue study
IRAS ID
323169
Contact name
Andrew Hopper
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHSFT
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 2 days
Research summary
Tissue acquisition by means of endoscopic ultrasound guided fine-needle biopsy (FNB) is the standard of care for diagnosing pancreatic malignancy. Because of its location directly behind the stomach the pancreas is difficult to see and biopsy with standard trans-abdominal ultrasound. Therefore pancreatic tissue sampling is performed by passing an endoscope with a small ultrasound probe attached through the mouth into the stomach and duodenum. When in the stomach the Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) probe is able to lie directly against the pancreas and able to visualise small and abnormal areas and take samples accurately and safely.
In the last decade the original fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of pancreatic tissue have been superseded by FNB needles with fork tips types. These achieve significantly higher accuracy of 84% versus 75% for FNA and samples with a more preserved tissue architecture, allowing for immunohistochemistry or special stains required for certain diagnoses. Multiple studies have investigated ways to get the best samples with FNB to achieve a timely and accurate diagnosis. The transport medium for pancreatic fine needle biopsy is unknown. Optimising the accuracy of pancreatic FNB will reduce the need for repeat sampling and delays in patient care with suspected pancreatic cancer.REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
24/NI/0090
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jul 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion