A Resected Case of Giant Cell Carcinoma of the Pancreas

A 55-year old woman presented complaining of back pain. A tumor was detected in the body of the pancreas by ultrasonography and CT scan. Preoperative ERP and angiographic findings were suggestive of pancreatic cancer. Distal pancreatectomy was performed and the body of the pancreas was found to be filled with an oval expanding whitish tumor. The histological feature was a giant cell carcinoma (pleomorphic type) at the pancreas. The characteristic clinical features of 36 cases (including this case) in Japanese literatures were similar to that of common pancreatic duct carcinoma. The mean age was 63.4 years. Abdominal and back pain were the most common chief symptoms, and the tumors occupied the head (15 cases) or the body to tail (17 cases) of the pancreas respectively. Of the 36 cases, 23 could be diagnosed by imaging diagnosis, while 15 out of 22 cases showed hypo echoic findings on ultrasonography, and 19 out of 25 cases showed low density findings on CT scan. Stenosis (9 cases) and occlusion (5 cases) of the main pancreatic duct could be seen by ERP. However, no difference in findings by imaging modalities between giant cell carcinoma and common duct carcinoma of the pancreas were found. Twenty five (including this case) out of 33 cases died within 12 months after establishing a diagnosis.