Characteristics of neoplastic pancreatic cystic lesions
| Characteristic | Serous cystic neoplasms | Solid pseudo- papillary tumors | Mucinous cystic neoplasms | Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms | Cystic pancreatic endocrine neoplasm | Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malignant potential | Benign | Can progress to malignancy | Malignant | |||
| Age group | 50–60 | 20–30 | 40–50 | 60–70 | 50–60 | 60–70 |
| Sex predilection | Female more often than male | None | ||||
| Characteristic findings on cross-sectional imaging (computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) | Multicystic with central stellate scar | Solid growth with cystic degeneration | Solitary, unilocular, found in body or tail | Multifocal, communicates with main pancreatic duct, dilated main pancreatic duct | Complex cystic mass, enhancement of the cyst wall, hypervascular rim, found in body or tail | Irregular hypoechoic mass associated with an abrupt cutoff of the main pancreatic duct with upstream dilation |
| Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration cyst fluid analysis | Lower carcinoembryonic antigen (< 5 ng/mL), higher glucose, lower amylase | Not applicable | Higher carcinoembryonic antigen (> 192 ng/mL), lower glucose (< 50 mg/dL), positive mucin stain | Not applicable | ||
| Treatment | No intervention is recommended if asymptomatic | Surveillance with or without resection | Resection | |||
Data from references 6–10, 19.