I had a BD-IPMN discovered 5 years ago during a routine surveillance scan as I had the Whipple procedure in 2012. The IPMN measured 8mm and is in the tail of the pancreas. I was familiar with the international guideline for monitoring IPMN’s but because I already had the Whipple for an acinar cell tumor in the head of the pancreas, I went for multiple (4) opinions all covered by health insurance as I wanted to make sure the guidelines fit my situation or if surveillance needed to be customized to fit my situation.

I went to an NCI designated center of excellence in cancer care with a pancreas program that had a surgical oncologist who specializes in IPMN management. Surgery would leave me as a type III brittle diabetic and would need insulin and pancrealipase for life. There was very little risk of it becoming malignant. The last 3 scans showed shrinkage to 7mm.

There is an international study (EA2185) on comparison of IPMN surveillance methods. Enrollment is open to anyone with an IPMN whether a BD or MD IPMN. More information about this surveillance study is at-
https://blog-ecog-acrin.org/now-enrolling-ea2185-trial-to-compare-the-clinical-impact-of-pancreatic-cyst-surveillance-programs/