← Issue №11/ week of Sep 13, 2026/Endoscopy

Safety and Diagnostic Performance of Pancreatic Duct Brushings for Detecting Pancreatic Cancer.

From GI Signals issue №11: what this paper found, what it changes, and where it sits against the current standard of care, reviewed by Simon Mathews, MD.

Endoscopy retrospective · n=205 · Sep 10, 2026 · Pancreas · IF 1.9

Safety and Diagnostic Performance of Pancreatic Duct Brushings for Detecting Pancreatic Cancer.

New evidencepancreatic cancerERCPbiomarkerEUS
Clinical takeawayIn selected patients where clinical and imaging features suggest pancreatic cancer, PD brushing with combined BC and FISH can assist diagnosis, but 54.3% sensitivity cannot exclude malignancy if negative (confirmatory EUS-guided biopsy or surgery remains necessary). The 7.8% post-ERCP pancreatitis rate, notably higher than baseline diagnostic ERCP, warrants careful patient selection and informed consent.
What it foundCombined pancreatic duct brushing and FISH achieved 54.3% sensitivity and 87.7% specificity for detecting pancreatic cancer (AUC 0.71); post-ERCP pancreatitis occurred in 7.8% of 205 subjects.
ContextPD brushing with FISH is an existing technique that has been underutilized due to sparse systematic data on diagnostic accuracy. This retrospective analysis provides the first formal evaluation showing that combined brush cytology plus FISH yields modest diagnostic performance, insufficient as a standalone diagnostic modality but useful as an adjunctive tool.
Reinforcessuggested applicable standard· American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), 'American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy guideline on post-ERCP pancreatitis prevention strategies: summary and recommendations' (Buxbaum JL et al., Gastrointest Endosc 2023;97(2):153-162). DOI 10.1016/j.gie.2022.10.005, PMID 36517310.

No single passage of this standard matched the paper closely enough to quote, so none is shown. The standard is cited above.

Our full summary of this standard

For ALL patients undergoing ERCP (average-risk and high-risk alike), give periprocedural rectal NSAID prophylaxis (100 mg indomethacin or diclofenac) unless contraindicated (e.g., recent PUD, renal insufficiency), this is now a strong recommendation for unselected patients, not just high-risk ones. For high-risk patients undergoing repeated or deep pancreatic-duct access or ampullectomy, add a prophylactic small-caliber pancreatic duct stent (3-5Fr, preferably 5Fr, 3-7cm, removed within 5-10 days), strong recommendation; for other high-risk scenarios (difficult cannulation, prior PEP, precut sphincterotomy without fistulotomy), PD stenting is a conditional recommendation when PD access is easily achieved. Aggressive periprocedural/postprocedural IV hydration with lactated Ringer's (20 mL/kg bolus, then 3 mL/kg/h for 8h) is a conditional suggestion for unselected patients (most practical for inpatients), and wire-guided cannulation is conditionally favored over contrast-guided to reduce PEP risk. The SVI trial (Elmunzer, Lancet 2024) found rectal indomethacin alone did NOT meet non-inferiority versus indomethacin+stent in high-risk patients (PEP 14.9% vs 11.3%), supporting continued use of the combination bundle in high-risk cases rather than dropping the stent. Post-procedure, monitor for the major complications (pancreatitis, sphincterotomy bleeding, perforation, cholangitis) and manage by type, PEP by Cotton criteria with fluids/analgesia, bleeding with repeat endoscopic hemostasis, perforation by Stapfer classification with surgical consult for Type I, and cholangitis with empiric antibiotics (Tokyo Guidelines TG18) plus biliary drainage; these complication-management elements are unchanged from ESGE 2020.

American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), 'American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy guideline on post-ERCP pancreatitis prevention strategies: summary and recommendations' (Buxbaum JL et al., Gastrointest Endosc 2023;97(2):153-162). DOI 10.1016/j.gie.2022.10.005, PMID 36517310. · reviewed 2026-07-21 ↗
Mitsuhashi S … Vargas EJ · Pancreas · IF 1.9 · PubMed ↗Permalink
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