Accuracy of CA 19-9 and radiologic imaging in detecting recurrence after resection for pancreatic cancer.

among all gastrointestinal neoplasms, pancreatic cancer still remains difficult to treat. Resection, with or without adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy, offers the only chance of long-term survival, although the percentage of patients cured of this disease is very small. Most patients’ tumor recur within two years of surgery, and the pattern of recurrence is well known. Treatment of recurrent pancreatic cancer is a clinical challenge since effective therapeutic options (surgery and/or chemo-radiotherapy) have yet to be clearly demonstrated. Surveillance after resection of pancreatic carcinoma is commonly performed with serum CA 19-9 determination and imaging studies, i.e. abdominal ultrasonography and/or computed tomography (CT); magnetic resonance imaging or 18fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) with CT acquisition (PET/CT) are used in selected cases. However, the value of follow-up in the early detection of recurrence, and its impact on the survival of patients with pancreatic cancer, is not clearly shown.