Surveillance of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma in Chronic Pancreatitis: An Ongoing Challenge

Abstract

Patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) may have presentations resembling pancreatic cancer (PaC) and are also high-risk for developing PaC. Surveillance of PaC in CP is therefore important but difficult and challenging. Candidates for PaC surveillance include hereditary pancreatitis, tropical chronic pancreatitis or any CP patients with clinical suspicions or the presence of pancreatic mass. Currently, the best potential surveillance tools are probably endoscopic ultrasonography with fine needle aspiration and positron emission tomography