Catching pancreatic cancer early can increase the five-year survival rate from 15% to 80%. Patients with pancreatic cysts, frequently detected during unrelated abdominal CT or MRI imaging, can develop malignant pancreatic cancers

They found that patients with larger low-risk cysts and older patients, particularly those over 70 years of age, were at greater risk for cancer. The results are published in JAMA Network Open.

“Our study underscores the need for long-term personalized surveillance strategies for patients with incidentally discovered low-risk pancreatic cysts,” said senior author Ramin Khorasani MD, MPH, the director and co-founder of the Center for Evidence-Based Imaging, Radiology Quality Vice Chair and Assistant Chief Medical Officer at Mass General Brigham. “This approach could enable earlier detection of pancreatic cancer, when treatment is more likely to succeed.”