What is the difference between a main duct and a branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm?
Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, as mentioned earlier, form in the main pancreatic duct or in one of the branches off of the main pancreatic duct. Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms that arise in the main pancreatic duct are called, as one might expect, “main duct type” IPMNs. Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms that arise in one of the branches of the main duct are called “branch duct type” IPMNs. The distinction between main duct type and branch duct type IPMNs is important because several studies have shown that, for each given size, branch duct IPMNs are less aggressive (less likely to have an invasive cancer) than are main duct IPMNs (see references 2,3).
