In a long-term follow-up study of individuals at high-risk for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), most PDACs detected during long-term surveillance were resectable, and 85% of these patients survived for 3 years. Researchers analyzed data from 354 individuals at high risk for PDAC enrolled in Cancer of the Pancreas Screening cohort studies at tertiary care academic centers from 1998 through 2014 with median follow-up of 5.6 years. The primary endpoint was the cumulative incidence of PDAC, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3, or intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) after baseline. Among the findings:

• During the follow-up period, pancreatic lesions with worrisome features or rapid cyst growth were detected in 68 (19%) patients.
• Overall, 24/354 (7%) patients had neoplastic progression over a 16-year period.
• The rate of progression was 1.6%/year and 93% had detectable lesions with worrisome features before diagnosis of the PDAC or HGD.
• 90% of PDACs detected during routine surveillance were resectable.
• A significantly higher proportion of patients with resectable PDACs survived 3 years.