Carolyn Vachani, MSN, RN, AOCN Last Modified: June 16, 2002 Dear
OncoLink "Ask The Experts," What is an Endoscopic Ultrasound?
Carolyn Vachani, MSN, RN, AOCN, OncoLink's Clinical Trials
Coordinator, responds: Endoscopic ultrasound was first used in
the early 1980's. It is essentially a scope (slender, flexible
tube) that has an ultrasound on the end of it. Ultrasound
technology uses sound waves of extremely high frequency to allow
the physician to "see" through the colon wall. This helps
determine the depth of the tumor and if any nearby lymph nodes
are enlarged, suggesting that tumor has spread to them. It can
be used for staging in any gastrointestinal tumor, including
colon, gastric, esophageal, and pancreatic cancers.