Commonly used imaging examinations for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer examination cannot be separated from imaging examination. Commonly used imaging examinations include B-ultrasound, X-ray and CT. How do doctors use them to diagnose the patient's condition?

1. Ultrasound: B-mode ultrasound is the ideal first choice for pancreatic cancer examination. Its diagnostic positive rate for pancreatic cancer can reach 90%, and it can show pancreatic tumors with a diameter greater than 2 cm. It manifests as localized enlargement of the pancreas, irregular edge echoes, irregular stenosis and dilation of the pancreatic duct, and enlarged gallbladder.

2. X-ray examination: endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP): The contrast agent is injected through the duodenal papilla under endoscopy to retrogradely display the pancreatic and bile ducts. It is currently recognized as the gold standard for diagnosing pancreatic and bile duct diseases, with a diagnostic accuracy rate of up to 90%. In addition to observing whether the duodenal wall and ampulla have cancer infiltration, it can also show the filling defect and displacement of the main pancreatic duct, and can collect pancreatic juice for cytological examination and ampulla biopsy, thereby improving the diagnosis rate.

3. CT manifestations: It is a very commonly used imaging method for diagnosing pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer manifests as local solid masses or diffuse enlargement, 90% of which have unclear boundaries, and the lesions show equal density or uneven density changes. Pancreatic duct obstruction, distal pancreatic duct dilatation, common bile duct, gallbladder common hepatic duct, intrahepatic bile duct dilatation, etc. When invading blood vessels, it manifests as thickening of blood vessels, blurred boundaries, and sometimes all of them are buried by the cancer mass and disappear.