Secretin-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (S-MRI) for Pancreatic Cancer Detection

Pancreatic cancer remains the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and is marked by advanced stage at diagnosis and a high mortality rate. Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) is a cystic lesion that can be potentially cancerous, leading to pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Currently, there is no existing imaging modality that is both sensitive and cost-effective enough in accurately measuring or detecting adenocarcinoma and IPMN. Improving the methods used in identification and localization of this disease is critical. Secretin, a hormone produced by duodenal mucosal cells increases blood-flow to the pancreas. The investigators' hypothesis is that as secretin increases blood flow to the pancreas, there will be increased conspicuity in areas of dysplasia/cancer where there is minimal blood-flow, enhancing tumor detection. The investigators are conducting a prospective, randomized-control pilot study of thirty subjects with IPMN or pancreatic cancer who are undergoing surgical resection at Columbia University's Pancreas Center. Fifteen subjects will be randomly selected to undergo S-MRI prior to surgery and fifteen subjects will be selected as controls, undergoing MRI without secretin-enhancement and matched for age, sex, race and tumor-type. The investigators will first evaluate if secretin allows for increased tumor conspicuity, enhanced visualization of the lesion, by comparing the calculated tumor conspicuity of S-MRI to N-MRI groups. The investigators will then assess if S-MRI imaging allows for increased accuracy in lesion measurements by looking at the concordance in measurements between S-MRI and tumor specimens post-resection as compared to the concordance in measurements between N-MRI and tumor specimens post-resection.