Patients with pancreatic cysts have a higher overall risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those without the cysts, according to a study in GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
The study included 520,970 patients, 755 of whom were diagnosed with pancreatic cysts. The study did not differentiate among different types of pancreatic cysts.
Here are four points:
1. In the group with cysts, 17 patients were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer over the study period.
2. Of those 17, five were diagnosed with cancer within one to two years of the cyst diagnosis; six within two to four years; three within four to six years; and the remaining three patients within six to eight years of their cyst diagnosis.
3. Among the 520,415 patients without cysts, 1,206 were eventually diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
4. The overall risk of pancreatic cancer was estimated to be 19.64 times greater in the group with pancreatic cysts.