Korean J Gastroenterol.  2010 Apr;55(4):245-251. 10.4166/kjg.2010.55.4.245.

Acinar Cell Carcinoma of the Pancreas in Korea: Clinicopathologic Analysis of 27 Patients from Korean Literature and 2 Cases from Our Hospital

• Lee JH
• Lee KG
• Park HK
• Lee KS

• KMID: 1792775
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4166/kjg.2010.55.4.245

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Acinar cell carcinoma (ACC) of the pancreas is a rare malignancy. ACC has been considered a cancer with poor prognosis due to frequent metastasis, a high recurrence rate, and low resectability. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical, radiologic and pathologic features of ACC in Korean patients, and surgical outcome was also investigated.
METHODS
We reviewed the clinical records of two patients with ACC who had undergone operation in January 1996 and December 2005 at Hanyang University Medical Center. Through searching of medical journal from 1983 to 2009, 27 patients reported on literatures as Korean ACC patients were reviewed together. The clinical, pathohistologic, and radiologic features, treatment, and prognosis were investigated for all 29 patients.
RESULTS
ACC was more common in male, and age at diagnosis ranged from 25 to 68 years (median 54). Symptoms were, mostly abdominal pain and mass. Liver was most common organ of metastasis at diagnosis and recurrence after operation. The mean tumor size was 7.0 cm, and most common location was tail. Of the 29 patients, 22 underwent surgical resection. Excluding 7 cases of not-reported survival, the median survival with operation was 22.4 months compared to 1.5 months with non-operation.
CONCLUSIONS
In Korea, the clinical features of ACC include young age, large size, tail location, and nonspecific tumor markers. Surgery should be actively performed in the treatment of ACC regardless of size.

Keyword

Acinar cell carcinoma; Pancreas

MeSH Terms

Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Carcinoma, Acinar Cell/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Pancreatic Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery
Prognosis
Republic of Korea
Survival Analysis
Tumor Markers, Biological/analysis

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