ABSTRACT
I. BRIEF HISTORY The incidence of periampullary carcinoma has increased significantly during the past five decades. Approximately 30,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed this year in the United States, accounting for 85% of all periampullary malignancies. Carcinoma of the pancreas is the second most frequent cause of death from gastrointestinal malignancies and fourth from all types of cancer. The most common type of pancreatic cancer is ductal adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas; other types include cystadenocarcinoma and various APUDomas. The remaining 15% of the periampullary malignancies consist of duodenal carcinoma, ampullary carcinoma, carcinomas of the lower common bile duct, lymphomas, sarcomas, and metastatic cancer.
