Pancreatic Disorders News

2009 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

Wajeeha Razaq

Pancreatic cancer has been receiving increased media attention in recent months due to a couple of high-profile cases. Actor Patrick Swayze issued a statement in March 2008 that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Melon, who shared his almost two-year long struggle with pancreatic cancer with the world through his extremely popular “The Last Lecture,” died in July 2008.

Digestive Disease Week 2008

Gemcitabine used for chemotherapy delayed cancer recurrence after pancreatic cancer surgery, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In these videos, James Boyer, MD, FACEP, Ensign Professor of Medicine and Emeritus Director of the Liver Center at Yale School of Medicine discusses the current understanding of the genetic and environmental factors that can contribute to biliary diseases.

In these videos, James Boyer, MD, FACEP, Ensign Professor of Medicine and Emeritus Director of the Liver Center at Yale School of Medicine discusses the challenges that exist in diagnosing biliary diseases.

In these videos, James Boyer, MD, FACEP, Ensign Professor of Medicine and Emeritus Director of the Liver Center at Yale School of Medicine discusses the latest treatments for biliary diseases

In these videos, James Boyer, MD, FACEP, Ensign Professor of Medicine and Emeritus Director of the Liver Center at Yale School of Medicine discusses the current understanding of the genetic and environmental factors that can contribute to biliary diseases.

A: Pancreatic cystic lesions are being diagnosed with increasing frequency in asymptomatic patients or incidentally through investigation of an unrelated presenting symptom. With the standard use of cross-sectional imaging, such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, pancreatic cystic lesions are found more commonly than previously reported. Furthermore, through expanding expertise at tertiary care centers as well as in the community setting, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) evaluation and classification of pancreatic cystic lesions has become possible without the need for surgical extirpation. These imaging modalities allow the treatment algorithm used by most gastroenterologists and pancreatic surgeons to focus on the differentiation of benign cysts from those cysts that are malignant or have malignant potential.