Screening and diagnosis for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer has an extremely poor prognosis mainly because the diagnosis is made late. Therefore, screening and early diagnosis are essential ways to improve the patient's survival. There is no cost-effective screening method in general population because pancreatic cancer is relatively uncommon. Some patients belonging to high-risk groups such as hereditary pancreatic cancer, familial pancreatic cancer kindred, new-onset diabetes in elderly patients, can be targets of secondary screening. To date, multi-detector CT is the standard method for proper diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. EUS play roles for identifying small lesion and cytologic examination. Other modalities like endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), MRI/MRCP, positron emission tomography (PET), or laparoscopy, can be used selectively for the diagnosis and assessment of resectability.