Abstract
Special US focusing on the pancreas and a set of serum tests were performed for patients with pancreatic duct dilatation(PDD) or pancreatic cysts(PC) every 3, 6 or 12 months. When some development was detected, additional examinations, including ERP with pancreatic juice cytology(PJC), were performed. To evaluate the rate of increase of pancreatic cancer in patients with PDD or PC compared with the normal population, the observed/expected(O/E) ratio was calculated by using the Osaka Cancer Registry. 1040 patients were registered for periodic checkups. Pancreatic cancer was detected in 17 patients. The O/E ratio of pancreatic cancer was significantly high in patients with PDD or PC. 8 patients with conventional pancreatic cancer excluding IPMC or MCC were in stage III-IVa. To improve the availability of this system for detecting early pancreatic cancer, we introduced MRCP, EUS-FNA, and recombinant secretin-loaded PJC in our new system.
