Pancreatic Cyst Surveillance Program

As a high-volume pancreatic cancer center, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center partnered with Eon, a health care technology company, to create a first of its kind digital platform to identify, track, follow and monitor patients with pancreatic cysts. This program uses a new cloud-based system that automatically highlights patients when incidental scans, such as an MRI, CT scan or ultrasound, discover pancreatic cysts, so at-risk people can be contacted for potential follow-up.

Patients who elect to enroll in The Pancreatic Cyst Surveillance Program at Cooperman Barnabas are followed by a pancreatic expert who will stratify and assess the risk of the cyst becoming cancerous. Additionally, a nurse navigator will help these patients schedule the necessary screening, procedures or surgery.

Who gets pancreatic cysts?

Around 15 percent of Americans are walking around with a pancreatic cyst. Of those, the risk of the cyst becoming cancerous can be as high as 60 percent and as low as 2 percent. Some cysts don’t require immediate surgery but should be monitored regularly for particular changes that may suggest an increased risk of malignancy.

When is surgery appropriate?

This program helps determine the appropriate time to operate on patients, but also when to keep patients out of the operating room to prevent them from having unnecessary surgeries when the risk of complications is greater than the risk of cancer. If the patient does need to have surgery, it is important to have the surgery at a high-volume pancreatic center with high-volume surgeons, and Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center has both of those.

If you have been diagnosed with a pancreatic cyst, contact The Pancreatic Cyst Surveillance Program at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center by calling 973.322.6652.