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Benign or Malignant IPMN? What to do next?

Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Apr 8, 2023 | Replies (79)

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@hopeful33250

Hello @loklcw

I would like to join the others in welcoming you to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can certainly feel the worry in your words and can certainly relate to that anxiety. After three surgeries for a rare form of cancer in the duodenal bulb, a CT scan for something unrelated showed cysts in the pancreas. I was certainly riding the "what-if" train and it was a rocky ride as you know.

That original CT scan led to an MRI and later a EUS and all the examining doctors said the same thing, IPMN, which is benign. Given my history of carcinoid cancer, however, follow-ups are done on regular basis. For the first few years, it was annually. However, now, after many years of no changes in the size of the cysts, I've graduated with an MRI every two years.

To say that I never worry about the possibility of pancreatic cancer would be telling an untruth. The possibility still crosses my mind. In the years when I don't have the MRI, I've asked my doctor to do blood work to check on the pancreas enzymes as well as the liver enzymes. It certainly helps to keep my mind at ease.

I really understand that when you have a propensity to worry, it can be a hard habit to break, but as @loribmt @gingerw and @naturegirl5 have suggested, do your very best to put this concern in a compartment and trust that you are getting good medical opinions and live your life. I know you are thinking, "easier said than done." So true.

Keep following up as suggested by your medical team. In the meantime, I'd like to invite another member to this discussion, @mariouk, who has also dealt with this same concern.

Are you taking any meds for the symptoms of steatorrhea?

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Replies to "Hello @loklcw I would like to join the others in welcoming you to Mayo Clinic Connect...."

This post has given me some hope. An 8mm dilated duct was found in to a CT scan for a kidney stone in 2013 but I was never told. Seen again, when I was told, in June 2022 after a bout if diverticulitis. Consulting physicians in 2022 felt it was a benign condition as I had had it for 9 years. Decided to see a surgical oncologist to be sure. I have an IPMN at the head of the pancreas. Sought 2 second opinions, one said consider a prophylactic Whipple, the other said not necessarily. Right now I am sticking with bi-annual MRCP's and ERCP's where biopsies have been normal. In good health otherwise. Still hoping to find statistics on those followed with IPMN'S. And obviously not everyone is the same.