Histologic/Immunohistochemical Classification of Carcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater and Survival Rate

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The prognostic factors for carcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater have not been fully identified. This study was undertaken in order to determine whether or not immunohistochemical staining can be used identify the potential diagnostic and prognostic markers for carcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater. METHODS: We studied twenty four patients with carcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater who underwent curative resection from September 1995 to February 2003 at the Department of Surgery, Dong-A University Medical Center. All the specimens were reviewed by an expert pathologist, and immunohistochemical stains were used to differentiate the pathologic type. RESULTS: The overall 5-year survival rate was 58.3%, and survival was closely correlated with the pathologic differentiation. For the immunohistochemical stains, CK20 and MUC2 were significantly effective to differentiate the intestinal type and the pancreaticobiliary type of carcinoma for the Ampulla of Vater (P=0.0162 and P=0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Further investigations with a larger number of cases would enable us to use immunohistochemical stains to improve the differentiation of carcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater.