Dynamic contrast-enhanced CT in patients with pancreatic cancer

The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of the use of Dynamic contrast-enhanced Computed Tomography (DCE-CT) in patients with pancreatic cancer. This study was composed according to the PRISMA guidelines 2009. The literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Web of Science databases to identify all relevant publications. The QUADAS-2 tool was implemented to assess the risk of bias and applicability concerns of each included study. The initial literature search yielded 483 publications. Thirteen articles were included. Articles were categorized into three groups: Nine articles concerning primary diagnosis or staging, one article about tumor response to treatment and three articles regarding scan techniques. In exocrine pancreatic tumors measurements of blood flow in eight studies and blood volume in seven studies were significantly lower in tumor tissue, compared with measurements in pancreatic tissue outside of tumor, or normal pancreatic tissue in control groups of healthy volunteers. The studies were heterogeneous in the number of patients enrolled and scan protocols. Perfusion parameters measured and analyzed by DCE-CT might be useful in the investigation of characteristic vascular patterns of pancreatic exocrine tumors. Further clinical studies are desired for investigating the potential of DCE-CT in pancreatic tumors.
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