Low Progression Rate in Surveilled Side-Branch Intraductal Pancreatic Mucinous Neoplasms

Side-branch intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (sb-ipmns) have a low rate (15.3%) of clinically relevant progression (CR-progression), leading to invasive cancer mainly due to size increase or main-duct involvement. Patients with CR-progression benefit from timely resection, but initial size alone is not a reliable indicator for surgery. Non-operative surveillance is crucial, as most surveilled lesions show low-grade pathology and cancer development in the pancreas is rare.