All patients had a minimum of 12 months of Medicare enrollment prior to the date of EC diagnosis. Patients with a diagnosis of EC undergoing EUS within the period 1 month prior or 3 months after date of diagnosis were compared to pts who did not. Survival times were estimated by Kaplan-Meier method and compared by using log-rank test. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare 1, 3 and 5 yr survival rates adjusted for age, race, gender, tumor histology, tumor stage, SEER site, year of diagnosis, selleck inhibitor Medicare/Medicaid dual enrollment and Charlson comorbidity index. Of a total of 5247 patients

[mean age 75.8 years, 71% men, 87% White, 55% esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC)] that met the inclusion criteria, only 524 (10%) underwent evaluation by EUS. On univariate analysis, younger (p<0.0001), White (p=0.0002) pts with EAC (p<0.0001)

were more likely to undergo EUS (Table 1). Higher survival rates were noted in pts undergoing EUS for all cancer stages except carcinoma in situ (p<0.0001 for all). Pts who were evaluated by EUS were more likely to be treated with endoscopic therapy (p<0.0001), chemoradiation (p=0.01) and esophageal resection (p=0.002). Multivariable Cox proportional 3-Methyladenine hazards models showed that receipt of EUS was associated with improved all-cause survival [1 yr: HR 0.54 (95% CI 0.46-0.62), 3 yr: HR 0.6 (0.54-0.68), 5-yr: HR 0.61 (0.55-0.68)]. Older age, black race, histology other than EAC, increasing tumor stage, and higher comorbidity score were all significant predictors

of decreased survival (Table 2). Improved survival was also noted in a subgroup analysis based on histology [1 yr: EAC: HR 0.59 (95% CI 0.49-0.71), ESCC: HR 0.48 (95% CI 0.36-0.63)]. This large population-based study demonstrates that performance of EUS is associated with an improved 5-year survival in patients with EC (40% risk reduction). This may be attributed to the high accuracy of staging by EUS leading to stage-appropriate management, a hypothesis supported by increased use of endoscopic and surgical treatment in patients receiving EUS. However, only a minority of eligible patients with EC undergo EUS based evaluation. Table 1. Univariate analysis comparing individuals with esophageal cancer Protein tyrosine phosphatase undergoing EUS (Group 1) to those not undergoing EUS (Group 2) “
“The most important parameter for determining the optimal treatment of upper gastrointestinal tumors is accurate staging accomplished by TNM classification. However, the diagnosis of intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy is often a challenge for endoscopists and radiologists. Contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS (CH-EUS) allowed observation of microvasculature in digestive organs. The aims of this prospective study were to observe the microvasculature of intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy by CH-EUS and to evaluate its usefulness for discriminating between malignant and benign lymph nodes.