Abstract
Objective
Cyst fluid amylase is a potential marker for pseudocysts and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN). This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic role of cyst fluid amylase and to determine the optimal cutoff values of cyst fluid amylase and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for the differential diagnosis of pancreatic cysts.
Methods
Based on the pancreatic cyst database at Massachusetts General Hospital, a total of 78 patients with histologically proven cysts [pancreatic pseudocyst (PP), n = 16; mucinous cystic neoplasm, mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN), n = 22; IPMN, n = 40] were selected. Complete cyst fluid amylase and CEA values were analyzed.
Results
Thirty two of 78 patients were male with median age of 60.4 years (range, 24–84). Cyst diameter ranged from 5 to 130 mm. For cyst fluid amylase, there was significant difference between PP and MCN (median, 30,034.50 vs. 4,723.50 U/L; p < 0.05) or IPMN (30,034.50 vs. 1,585.00; p = 0.001), but no difference between MCN and IPMN. For cyst fluid CEA, there was a significant difference between PP and MCN (median, 26.00 vs. 627.50 ng/mL; p < 0.001) or IPMN (26.00 vs. 356.50; p < 0.001). Median amylase and CEA values were significantly different between PP and mucinous neoplasms (MCN/IPMN) (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001). Optimal cutoff values of 6,800 U/mL for amylase and 50 ng/mL for CEA correlated with the crossover of the sensitivity and specificity curves for differentiating PP and mucinous neoplasms. The overall accuracies of cyst fluid amylase and CEA were 69 and 85 %, respectively.
Conclusions
Cyst fluid amylase analysis does not differentiate between MCN and IPMN. The combination of cyst fluid CEA and amylase value may increase the diagnostic accuracy for differentiating mucinous neoplasms from pseudocysts.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Laffan TA, Horton KM, Klein AP, et al. Prevalence of unsuspected pancreatic cysts on MDCT. Am J Roentgenol. 2008;191:802–807.
de Jong K, Nio CY, Hermans JJ, et al. High prevalence of pancreatic cysts detected by screening magnetic resonance imaging examinations. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2010;8:806–811.
Brugge WR, Lauwers GY, Sahani D, Fernandez-del Castillo C, Warshaw AL. Cystic neoplasms of the pancreas. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:1218–1226.
Oh HC, Kim MH, Hwang CY et al. Cystic lesions of the pancreas: challenging issues in clinical practice. Am J Gastroenterol. 2008;103:229–239; quiz 228, 240.
Brugge WR, Lewandrowski K, Lee-Lewandrowski E, et al. Diagnosis of pancreatic cystic neoplasms: a report of the cooperative pancreatic cyst study. Gastroenterology. 2004;126:1330–1336.
Frossard JL, Amouyal P, Amouyal G, et al. Performance of endosonography-guided fine needle aspiration and biopsy in the diagnosis of pancreatic cystic lesions. Am J Gastroenterol. 2003;98:1516–1524.
Pitman MB, Deshpande V. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology of the pancreas: a morphological and multimodal approach to the diagnosis of solid and cystic mass lesions. Cytopathology. 2007;18:331–347.
Cizginer S, Turner B, Bilge AR, Karaca C, Pitman MB, Brugge WR. Cyst fluid carcinoembryonic antigen is an accurate diagnostic marker of pancreatic mucinous cysts. Pancreas. 2011;40:1024–1028.
van der Waaij LA, van Dullemen HM, Porte RJ. Cyst fluid analysis in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic lesions: a pooled analysis. Gastrointest Endosc. 2005;62:383–389.
Lewandrowski KB, Southern JF, Pins MR, Compton CC, Warshaw AL. Cyst fluid analysis in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic cysts. A comparison of pseudocysts, serous cystadenomas, mucinous cystic neoplasms, and mucinous cystadenocarcinoma. Ann Surg. 1993;217:41–47.
Sand JA, Hyoty MK, Mattila J, Dagorn JC, Nordback IH. Clinical assessment compared with cyst fluid analysis in the differential diagnosis of cystic lesions in the pancreas. Surgery. 1996;119:275–280.
Park WG, Mascarenhas R, Palaez-Luna M, et al. Diagnostic performance of cyst fluid carcinoembryonic antigen and amylase in histologically confirmed pancreatic cysts. Pancreas. 2011;40:42–45.
Linder JD, Geenen JE, Catalano MF. Cyst fluid analysis obtained by EUS-guided FNA in the evaluation of discrete cystic neoplasms of the pancreas: a prospective single-center experience. Gastrointest Endosc. 2006;64:697–702.
Hammel P, Levy P, Voitot H, et al. Preoperative cyst fluid analysis is useful for the differential diagnosis of cystic lesions of the pancreas. Gastroenterology. 1995;108:1230–1235.
Snozek CL, Mascarenhas RC, O’Kane DJ. Use of cyst fluid CEA, CA19-9, and amylase for evaluation of pancreatic lesions. Clin Biochem. 2009;42:1585–1588.
Shami VM, Sundaram V, Stelow EB, et al. The level of carcinoembryonic antigen and the presence of mucin as predictors of cystic pancreatic mucinous neoplasia. Pancreas. 2007;34:466–469.
Attasaranya S, Pais S, LeBlanc J, McHenry L, Sherman S, DeWitt JM. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration and cyst fluid analysis for pancreatic cysts. JOP. 2007;8:553–563.
Tanaka M, Fernandez-del Castillo C, Adsay V, et al. International association of P: international consensus guidelines 2012 for the management of IPMN and MCN of the pancreas. Pancreatology. 2012;12:183–197.
Rautou PE, Levy P, Vullierme MP, et al. Morphologic changes in branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas: a midterm follow-up study. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2008;6:807–814.
Kang MJ, Jang JY, Kim SJ, et al. Cyst growth rate predicts malignancy in patients with branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2011;9:87–93.
Khalid A, Zahid M, Finkelstein SD, et al. Pancreatic cyst fluid DNA analysis in evaluating pancreatic cysts: a report of the PANDA study. Gastrointest Endosc. 2009;69:1095–1102.
Wu J, Matthaei H, Maitra A et al. Vogelstein B: recurrent GNAS mutations define an unexpected pathway for pancreatic cyst development. Sci Transl Med. 2011;3:92ra66.
Furukawa T, Kuboki Y, Tanji E, et al. Whole-exome sequencing uncovers frequent GNAS mutations in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas. Sci Rep. 2011;1:161.
Kanda M, Knight S, Topazian M, et al. Mutant GNAS detected in duodenal collections of secretin-stimulated pancreatic juice indicates the presence or emergence of pancreatic cysts. Gut. 2013;62:1024–1033.
Conflict of interest
None.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oh, HC., Kang, H. & Brugge, W.R. Cyst Fluid Amylase and CEA Levels in the Differential Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cysts: A Single-Center Experience with Histologically Proven Cysts. Dig Dis Sci 59, 3111–3116 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-014-3254-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-014-3254-8