Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration of retropharyngeal lymph nodes after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a novel technique for accurate diagnosis

Cancer Communications
Long-Jun HeJian-Jun Li

Abstract

Enlarged retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RLNs) are very common in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) undergoing radiotherapy. The most suitable treatment option for enlarged RLNs depends on the pathological results. However, RLN sampling is difficult and imminent in the clinic setting. We recently developed a novel minimally invasive technique termed endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) for sampling RLN tissues sufficient for pathological or cytological diagnosis. We enrolled 30 post-radiotherapy patients with NPC with suspected RLN metastasis detected via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The EUS probe was introduced into the nasopharynx via the nostrils, and EUS was then used to scan the retropharyngeal space and locate the RLN in the anterior carotid sheath. EUS-FNA was subsequently performed. The safety and efficacy of using EUS-FNA to sample the RLN tissues were assessed. Strips of tissue were successfully sampled from all patients using EUS-FNA. Of the 30 patients, 23 were confirmed to have cancer cells in the biopsied tissues via pathology or cytology examinations with 1 EUS-FNA biopsy session. The seven cases without confirmed cancer cells were subsequently reanalyzed by using another EUS...Continue Reading

References

Oct 3, 2006·International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics·Li-Zhi LiuLi Li
Feb 10, 2007·Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official Journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology·Aaron M AllenRoy B Tishler
Mar 3, 2007·Clinical Cancer Research : an Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research·Jun MaLi Li
Dec 23, 2008·European Journal of Cancer : Official Journal for European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) [and] European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)·E A EisenhauerJ Verweij
Aug 14, 2009·Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology·Ryosuke KamiyamaSeiji Kishimoto
May 4, 2010·The Annals of Otology, Rhinology, and Laryngology·Laura ButtàPiero Nicolai
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Apr 17, 2014·European Journal of Radiology·Hiroki KatoMitsuhiro Aoki

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BETA
dissection
surgical resection
biopsy
biopsies

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