Objective To evaluate the diagnostic performance of combined enhanced CT and MRI in preoperative T staging, N staging, and vascular invasion assessment of pancreatic cancer, and to provide imaging evidence for individualized treatment planning in clinical practice. Methods This retrospective study included 72 patients with pathologically confirmed pancreatic cancer who underwent preoperative enhanced CT and MRI at Department of Imaging of The Second People’s Hospital of Anyang from January 2023 to December 2024. Postoperative pathological results were used as the gold standard. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the ROC curve (AUC) of enhanced CT, MRI, and combined enhanced CT+MRI were compared for T staging, N staging, and major vascular invasion (portal vein and superior mesenteric artery). Results The combined enhanced CT+MRI approach yielded higher diagnostic accuracy for T staging (93.1%), N staging (91.7%), and vascular invasion (92.2%) than either modality alone (P<0.05). It showed the highest detection rate and lowest missed diagnosis for T3–T4 stages and SMA invasion. ROC analysis showed that the combined enhanced CT+MRI had the highest AUC in all three assessments (T staging AUC=0.934, N staging AUC=0.919, vascular invasion AUC=0.952), significantly outperforming every single modality. The differences were all statistically significant. Conclusion Enhanced CT and MRI offer complementary strengths in preoperative assessment of pancreatic cancer. Their combined application improves staging accuracy and the sensitivity and specificity of vascular invasion evaluation, supporting more precise surgical planning. This integrated approach enhances the scientific rigor and precision of resectability predictions, making it worthy of widespread clinical adoption.