Differential diagnosis between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis is still difficult to establish. In
63 patients with suspected pancreatic neoplasm we performed: serum CA 19-9 assessment, abdominal
ultrasound, CT scan and CT-guided pancreatic percutaneous fine-needle biopsy. The conclusive diagnosis
was pancreatic cancer in 40 patients and chronic pancreatitis in 23 patients. With regard to the differential
diagnosis, sensitivity and specificity were respectively 80% and 78% for serum CA 19-9, 75% and 65% for
abdominal US, 85% and 70% for CT scan, 00% and 87% for percutaneous fine-needle biopsy. We
conclude that CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle biopsy is the most reliable method for differential
diagnosis between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis.
Blood biomarkers for differential diagnosis and early detection of pancreatic cancer
