An illusive cyst: should my mother have had her surgery?

An ultrasound showed about 2x1 cm cystic lesion in the body of pancreas. This followed by a referral for the abdominal CT scan that was done 1-month later and showed a “2 cm lobulated cystic lesion in the neck of pancreas with no pancreatic duct dilatation”. Due to a suspicion of MCN, she was referred for a pancreatic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with biopsy. EUS (#1) was done soon after at the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) Hospital in San Francisco by a very experienced gastroenterologist. The result was a “25 mm cyst, with no mass, single compartment, no pancreatic duct dilation or communication.” Biopsy showed “glandular epithelium without significant atypia”, with pancreatic CEA of 816 ng/mL (reference range in non-smokers: 0-2.5 ng/mL). The gastroenterologist was almost certain of MCN (sidebranch) and referred us to a surgeon of our choice. We had two consultations in San Francisco (at CPMC hospital and University of California San Francisco, UCSF). A well-respected transplant surgeon at CPMC after reading the EUS and CT reports suggested operating right away and proposed an open Whipple procedure with removal of the head and involved the neck of my mother’s pancreas. “Yes, it will de-condition her for about 2-3 months, and yes, the complication rate is high, but everything should be all right”, he “comforted” us.