Prognosis for intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas (IPMN) shows a wide spectrum of histological presentations, ranging from adenoma with mild atypia to adenocarcinoma. In general, branch duct IPMN develops slowly and has a comparatively good prognosis. However, in several studies, it became evident that IPMN is a disease that very frequently coexists with cancer. Several investigators have suggested that the prognosis of the IPMN is more closely related to coexisting diseases than IPMN per se.

A research article to be published on April 21, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by PhD Takao Itoi, from Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tokyo Medical University, reviewed the records of 145 patients with branch duct IPMN between January 1991 and April 2008 and assessed the relationship between IPMN and intra- or extra-pancreatic carcinoma and the outcome of IPMN.

Their results showed the prognosis for IPMN depends not on the IPMN per se, but on the presence of intra- or extra-pancreatic cancer. It appears to be important to determine the presence of intra- or extrapancreatic cancer when examining the patients with IPMN.

Reference: Ikeuchi N, Itoi T, Sofuni A, Itokawa F, Tsuchiya T, Kurihara T, Ishii K, Tsuji S, Umeda J, Moriyasu F, Tsuchida A, Kasuya K. Prognosis of cancer with branch duct type IPMN of the pancreas. World J Gastroenterol 2010; 16(15): 1890-1895

http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v16/i15/1890.htm

Correspondence to: Takao Itoi, MD, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishishinjyuku, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan. itoi@tokyo-med.ac.jp

Telephone: +81-3-33426111 Fax: +81-3-53816654

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H. pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2008 IF: 2.081. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.