Accuracy of computed tomography in determining pancreatic cancer tumor size

We compared tumor sizes determined by computed tomography (CT) with those of the resected specimens in 26 patients with pancreatic cancer in order to clarify whether or not the size of a pancreatic tumor can be accurately determined by CT. From the precontrast, postcontrast and arterial dominant phases of dynamic CT, the arterial dominant phase was found to yield the highest correlation between CT measured tumor size and that of the resected specimens (p<0.01). The correlation coefficient was, however, not high (r=0.67). CT alone may therefore be insufficient to determine tumor size in pancreatic cancer accurately. (author)