Biological Markers for Making the Differential Diagnosis between Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Tumor and Mucinous Cystic Tumor of the Pancreas

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Although intraductal papillary mucinous tumor (IPMT) and mucionus cystic tumor (MCT) share many common features, they are 2 clinically different disease entities. The aims of this study were to compare the clinicopathological characteristics of IPMT and MCT and to find molecular markers for making the differential diagnosis between IPMT and MCT METHODS: Forty-one patients with IPMT and 29 MCT patients who all underwent resection between 1994 and 2003 were enrolled in this study. After one gastrointestinal pathologist reviewed the pathological slides, we compared the clinico-pathological features of the two diseases. Immunohistochemical staining with using 17 biological markers was performed to find useful molecular markers for making the differential diagnosis. RESULTS: Besides the clinical features like gender, the tumor size and location, the patient's age and the radiological images, we found differences of the expressions of PR(p<0.001), ER(p<0.001), MUC2(p=0.038) and MUC5A(p=0.001) between IPMT and MCT. CONCLUSION: PR, ER, MUC2 and MUC5A can be useful in making the final differential diagnosis between IPMT and MCT. Considering the different gene expressions, further studies are needed to clarify the different pathogenesis of these two diseases entities.