Diagnosis and treatment of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas / 中华胰腺病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To summarize the experience in the diagnosis and treatment of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas to better our understanding of this rare exocrine pancreatic neoplasm. Methods The clinical data of five cases of adenosquamous carcinoma of pancreas admitted between July 2002 and June 2008 were analyzed retrospectively, and relevant literature was reviewed and discussed. Results Pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma was found in 3 men and 2 women with a mean age of 64 ± 18 years old. Tumor was located in the head of pancreas in 2 patients, body and tail in 3 cases. One patient was submitted to pancreaticoduodenectomy, three patients underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy and one had cholecystojejunostomy and gastric bypass surgery, as well as 1251 implantation. The mean size of the tumor was 4.5 cm. One patient had posterior stomach wall, descending duodenum, portal vein involvement; spleen was invaded in 2 cases; neural and vessel invasion was present in 2 cases. Lymph node metastasis was present in 1 case. Pathologically primary tumor and liver metastasis were mixture of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. In all 5 patients with complete follow up, 3 died of tumor recurrence or liver metastasis with a mean postoperative survival time of 11.2 momths (8.5 ~ 13.5 months). The other 2 cases survived for 6 and 56 months , respectively. Conclusions Pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma was likely to be found in patients in their 60s, and confirmative diagnosis was difficult. The prognosis of this rare tumor appeared to be dismal due to the high degree of malignancy.