EVALUATION OF PANCREATIC TUMOR ON CONTRAST ENHANCED COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND ITS CORRELATION WITH LAB TEST CA19-9

Abstract

Background: PDAC is the most common and deadly pancreatic cancer, often diagnosed late, with a 5-year survival below 10%. Risk factors include cystic lesions, pancreatitis and genetic syndromes.  Imaging, particularly CECT, is the standard for diagnosis, staging, and treatment monitoring, while CA19-9 serves as a biomarker for disease presence and progression, though its specificity and sensitivity are limited.

Objective: To determine the correlation between the staging of pancreatic tumors on Contrast Enhanced CT scan and serum CA 19-9 levels.

Methodology: This 4-month prospective study of 31 participants with suspected or confirmed pancreatic tumors involved abdominal CECT and serum CA 19-9 measurement. Demographic, clinical, imaging, and laboratory data were collected and anonymized, with statistical analysis using SPSS 27 to assess CA 19-9’s diagnostic utility.

Results: The study included 31 participants (13 males, 18 females), with 8 smokers and 3 alcohol users. Clinically, 24 experienced pains, 19 had nausea, 12 reported weight loss, and a few had jaundice. Tumors were mainly located in the pancreatic body (11), head (9), tail (8), and diffusely (3), with most being homogeneous (22) and hypodense (25), and tumor sizes predominantly 2–4 cm. CECT staging revealed benign, malignant, localized malignant, advanced, and metastatic tumors, with moderate CT severity in most cases. Serum CA 19-9 levels varied, and metastasis was observed in 4 participants.

Conclusion: This study of 31 pancreatic tumor patients, higher serum CA 19-9 levels strongly correlated with advanced tumor stage, CT severity, and metastasis, while gender showed no significant association. This indicates CA 19-9 is a reliable marker for tumor progression and disease severity.