Endoscopic techniques in gastrointestinal oncology.

Gastrointestinal endoscopy continues to play a significant role in gastroenterologic oncology. As a diagnostic tool, it has largely replaced radiology in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract because of its capability to provide a tissue diagnosis by endoscopic biopsy. The still-expanding therapeutic potential of gastrointestinal endoscopy represents the prototype of minimal invasive therapy. This review deals with relevant papers on diagnostic and therapeutic gastrointestinal endoscopy during the past 2 years. The abundance of studies renders a detailed discussion of all or even most of them impossible; therefore, only trends are shown. The reader is referred to the annotations in the reference list for more detailed information.