Staging role of EUS

Type of lymphoma and stage of disease are the two decisive prognostic factors and therapeutic determinants. For the locoregional staging, i.e. assessment of the gastric wall infiltration and perigastric lymphonodular involvement, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is highly useful. EUS has, therefore, to be integrated into the standard staging procedure of gastric lymphoma, although its impact on initial treatment decisions might be limited in the individual case. A benefit from the use of miniechoendoscopes, EUS elastography and EUS-guided biopsies has not yet been proven in gastric lymphoma. EUS also confers an important prognostic value regarding treatment responses to Helicobacter pylori eradication. On the contrary, EUS cannot be recommended as a regular part of follow-up investigations considering its limited value in predicting the response of the lymphoma to radiation or chemotherapy.