Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms of the Pancreas: A Plea for Prospective Differentiation Between Main-Duct and Side-Branch Tumors

Excerpt

Just over two decades ago, Ohashi et al.1 described four cases of pancreatic cancer that had unusual endoscopic features characterized by a bulging papilla and a distended pancreatic duct with overproduction of mucus. The cases were also unique in that they had very good survival compared with the usual pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Their observation was soon followed by reports of similar cases, initially from Japan, but later on from all over the world. As it often happens with newly described entities, this tumor received many different names. In Europe and the United States, it was commonly referred to as mucinous ductal ectasia, but in the mid 1990s, it was recognized as a separate pancreatic entity by the World Health Organization and given the name of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN).2 …