[Detection and prognosis of small pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma]

Symptoms and laboratory studies provide only limited assistance in the screening of small pancreatic carcinomas. Ultrasound and CT are best suited for screening small pancreatic carcinomas because of their ease and accuracy. When ultrasound and CT findings suggest small pancreatic carcinomas, MR cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasound should be indicated. Both techniques can show very small tumors noninvasively. Follow-up of 79 patients with pancreatic carcinoma in whom the tumor was resected showed that 5-year survival rate of patients with tumor limited to the duct epithelium was 100%. Majority of these tumors were smaller than 1 cm. These tumors are considered early pancreatic carcinoma.