Is the 3D-PANC MSP Model Superior to CT for Assessing Response to Neoadjuvant Treatment in PCA Patients?

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery represents the treatment of choice for patients with borderline and locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC). Despite being the diagnostic technique of choice for PAC staging, computed tomography (CT) has a very low accuracy in detecting those patients who may benefit from surgical resection after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Consequently, the study of computerized image processing technologies is gaining importance. However, there are no prospective validation studies of these technologies to determine their usefulness in the preoperative evaluation of PCA patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. A prospective multicenter study in which all patients with borderline or locally advanced PAC undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical exploration with curative intent will be included for one year. Preoperative images by traditional CT and 3D-MSP technology will be evaluated, comparing the accuracy variables (sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, area under the curve, concordance index) of both techniques with the gold standard (results of surgery and histopathological analysis). A prospective, multicenter study with control group will be performed. Since this is the evaluation of a diagnostic test, it will not be necessary to randomize the patients included, since each patient will be evaluated by means of both techniques under study, thus serving as his or her own control.