What Do Enlarged Nodes Around Pancreatic Bed Mean?

Posted on Fri, 9 May 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 9 May 2014 Answered on

Thu, 5 Jun 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I have had pain in my abdomen for a couple of months--sometimes severe, sometimes minimal. Recently had a CT scan done which showed enlarged nodes around my pancreas which was inflamed. On biopsy, it was found that the inside material of the nodes was hardened and had to be chipped away rather than aspirated. What could that mean?Lymphoma? I had radiation 8 years ago in this area. Could that be the cause?

Answered by Dr. Vaddadi Suresh (51 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
possible recurrence?

Detailed Answer:
Hi Mrs XXXXXXX
Hope you are in good health.
Enlarged nodes around pancreatic bed can mean anything from infections to malignancies.
Sometimes, aspiration may not help much as the tissue yield may be insufficient to issue a definitive diagnosis. In such cases, total excision of the node and keen observation of the entire nodal tissue can identify the problem.
A treated uterine cancer 8 years ago can relate to this if there is a recurrence.
In such cases where the diagnosis is difficult to make, we generally resort to PET scan which will tell whether it is a cancer or not.
A lymphoma generally do not present as focal nodal enlargement with out other nodes, liver or spleen enlargement.
hope this helped.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D