Preoperative Predictors of Malignancy in Pancreatic Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms

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Abstract
PANCREATIC CANCER is the fourth most common cause of death due to gastrointestinal malignancy. In the United States alone, approximately 27 000 new cases and an equal number of deaths were reported in 2001.1 As the demographics indicate, available treatments will cure only a handful of patients with this disease. The only possibility of cure is by surgical resection. In centers that perform large volumes of pancreatic surgery, approximately 15% of patients who undergo curative resection will survive 5 years.2 Only approximately 15% of patients who have pancreatic cancer are even candidates for surgical therapy. For patients with locally advanced disease, combined adjuvant chemoradiotherapy has been shown to minimally prolong survival over that of control patients who did not receive this treatment.3 With little hope from available therapies, intensive efforts should be focused on discovery of new treatment modalities, but emphasis should also be placed on screening and prevention.