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Extrapancreatic perineural invasion in pancreatic adenocarcinoma

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Abdominal Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma continues to be a highly lethal disease, despite advances in modern medicine. Curative surgical options continue to carry significant morbidity and offer little improvement in overall 5-year survival. Currently, imaging plays an essential role in the pre-operative evaluation of patients who are undergoing evaluation for resection. However, some pancreatic cancers have particularly aggressive biology, despite appearing resectable by conventional imaging criteria. Imaging biomarkers that serve as surrogates for tumors with such aggressive phenotype have been recently described, namely duodenal invasion and extrapancreatic perineural invasion. In this pictorial review, we will summarize key concepts of extrapancreatic perineural invasion, describe its association with a poor prognosis, and highlight the role of imaging in its detection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Dr., H1307, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Bhavik N. Patel, Eric Olcott & R. Brooke Jeffrey

  2. Department of Radiology, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    Eric Olcott

Authors
  1. Bhavik N. Patel
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  2. Eric Olcott
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  3. R. Brooke Jeffrey
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bhavik N. Patel.

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Disclosures

BNP—research support and consultant, GE Healthcare. EC—none. RBJ—none. Study Industry Support: none.

Compliance with ethical standards

This study did not involve human and animal subjects, and therefore an Institutional Review Board approval and informed consent were not required. The authors had control of the data and the information submitted for publication. [Blinded to reviewers] is a medical consultant and has received research support from GE Healthcare. All other authors are not employees of or consultants for industry and had control of inclusion of any data and information that might present a conflict of interest. There was no industry support specifically for this study.

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Patel, B.N., Olcott, E. & Jeffrey, R.B. Extrapancreatic perineural invasion in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Abdom Radiol 43, 323–331 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1343-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-017-1343-9

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