I had an acinar cell tumor in the head of the pancreas and underwent a Whipple procedure. A week after the Whipple when a CT was done, metastatic spread to the liver was suspected.That was two weeks after the initial diagnosistic scan that detected the tumor. When the suspecious areas were large enough to biopsy as a result of the first adjuvant chemo (Gemzar) being ineffective, I was switched to aggressive Tera with Folfirinox. I had 24 cycles of The original formulation alternating with 5-FU+Leucovorin in groups of 6 cycles making a total of 46 cycles. That was followed by a clinical trial of targeted maintenance monotherapy using a PARP-1 inhibitor because of a BRCA gene mutation. The trial drug led to a complete response. I continue taking the PARP inhibitor and will be 8 years on it in October.

The IPMN in a branch duct of the tail was discovered in 2019 by a routine surveillance scan that is performed every six months. It was 0.8 cm when first detected and the last scan in April was 0.7 cm, likely from where the scan slice was made and not actual shrinkage.