MATERIALS AND METhODS

Patients Sixty consecutive patients (26 women, 34 men; mean age 59 yr) with histologically verified adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were included in this study (Table 1). Patients were administered neoadjuvant or adjuvant combined radiochemotherapy or were given palliative chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Histologic verification ofthe diagnosis was done in all patients by fine-needle biopsy or surgery before initiation of treatment. Patients older than

75 yr or individuals with severe concurrent illness such as psychiatric disorders, florid infections or a second malignancy were excluded from the study. All patients gave informed consent according to institutional guidelines. All patients had undergone conventional radiologic imaging by means of CT to confirm the presence or absence ofcancer and to measure objectively the extent of the tumor burden at the time of radioimaging. The maximum time span between conventional imaging and application of I231 VIP was 4 wk. Before injection of the radiotracer, all patients had received full thyroid gland blockade with sodium perchlorate (400

Recent data demonstrated a high sensitivity (> 90%) in the visual izationofprimary/recurrent pancreatic cancer as wellas metastases by means of 123l-labeledvasoactive intestinal peptide (ViP). The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of radioiodi nated ViPinpatients suffering from adenocarcinorna ofthe exocrine pancreas. Methods Sixtyconsecutive patients (26 women, 34 men; mean age 59 yr) with histologically verified pancreatic cancer were investigated in this study. Twenty-one patients presented with organ-confined malignancy (19 at study entry and 2 during fol low-up after initialsurgery developed tumor recurrence), while 25