Imaging of small pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Symptoms and laboratory studies provide only limited assistance in the diagnosis of small pancreatic carcinomas. Ultrasound and computed tomography are best suited for screening small pancreatic carcinomas because of their ease and accuracy. When findings of ultrasound and computed tomography suggest small pancreatic carcinomas, MR cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasound should be indicated. Both techniques can show very small tumors. Follow-up of 77 patients with pancreatic carcinoma in whom the tumor was resected showed a 100% 5-year survival rate of patients with tumor limited to the duct epithelium. The majority of these tumors were <1 cm. These tumors are considered early pancreatic carcinoma.