Pancreatic Disease

The Pancreas Center is a national leader in the treatment of patients with pancreatic diseases. Here, top doctors from a range of backgrounds collaborate to provide diagnostic, prevention, and treatment services for patients from all over the world.

The pancreas is an organ that performs many functions to help digest food and regulate blood sugar. Due to its location deep in the abdomen, diseases of the pancreas are frequently diagnosed late in their course. It is not uncommon for patients with pancreatic disease to have had symptoms for years before a problem with the pancreas has been considered.  

Pancreatic Conditions We Treat

There are many diseases of the pancreas, such as inflammation (pancreatitis), failure to produce necessary digestive juices (pancreatic insufficiency), and tumors of the pancreas (cysts and masses).

Pancreatic Disease Treatments We Provide

While every specialist at the Pancreas Center is an individual expert, our multidisciplinary approach adds up to comprehensive benefits for our patients. Our expert team includes surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiologists, oncologists, nutritionists, and physicians specializing in the evaluation of genetic diseases of the pancreas. The close collaboration among members of the Pancreas Center translates into the best possible care for patients.

Our mission at the center is to increase the cure rate for individuals with pancreatic cancer. Through leading-edge research, breakthrough prevention techniques, expert treatment, and education, we strive for early detection and successful treatment of all pancreatic diseases.

Pancreatic Cyst Surveillance 

The Pancreatic Cyst Surveillance Program focuses on the comprehensive and multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment of patients with cystic lesions in the pancreas. Our goal is to identify patients who require further diagnostics, immediate treatment, or long-term surveillance. 

This program is devoted solely to patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN), or pancreatic cysts. IPMNs are cysts that form in the pancreas. These lesions have the potential to evolve into pancreatic cancers. At the Pancreatic Cyst Surveillance Program, our gastroenterologists bring highly specialized knowledge to the diagnosis and management of these cysts. 

Each patient is initially seen in a joint clinic of expert gastroenterologists and surgeons. The patient is then discussed in our weekly conference, where a plan is designed by a team of interventional endoscopists, surgeons, and oncologists. Each plan is tailored to the patient’s needs and may involve annual or semi-annual imaging, endoscopy, or possible surgery.

By offering a practice that monitors patients with known precursors to this disease, we strive to take a positive step toward fighting pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic Cyst Conditions We Treat

• Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN)
• Mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN)
• Serous cystadenoma
• Pseudocysts

Pancreatic Cyst Treatments We Provide

• Endoscopic ultrasound
• Fine needle aspiration
• Fine needle injection
• Confocal endomicroscopy of pancreatic cysts
• Endoscopic cyst- or pseudocystgastrosomy
• Comprehensive pancreatic surgery program