J Korean Surg Soc.  2011 Sep;81(3):221-224. 10.4174/jkss.2011.81.3.221.

Pancreatic serous cystadenocarcinoma with invasive growth into the colon and spleen

• Cho W
• Cho YB
• Jang KT
• Kim HC
• Yun SH
• Lee WY
• Chun HK

• KMID: 2212201
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4174/jkss.2011.81.3.221

Abstract

Serous cystic neoplasms of the pancreas are almost always benign lesions. However, there are some case reports of malignant serous neoplasms of the pancreas. It is very difficult to distinguish malignant and benign tumors. Indeed, only clinicopathologic findings of locoregional invasion and metastasis represent a malignancy. We report a serous cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas that was initially considered to be colon cancer. Post-operatively, the tumor was confirmed to be a malignant serous cystic tumor of the pancreas. One year later, the patient remains disease-free.

Keyword

Pancreas; Cystadenocarcinoma; Colon; Spleen

MeSH Terms

Colon
Colonic Neoplasms
Cystadenocarcinoma
Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous
Humans
Neoplasm Metastasis
Pancreas
Spleen

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Computed tomography of the pancreatic tumor. The tumor invaded the transverse colon (A) and spleen (B).

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  Fig. 2 The cut section exhibited invasive tumor growth into the spleen (A) and fistula tract between the tumor and colonic mucosa (B). The cut section of the pancreatic tail showed diffuse microcystic tumor with marked hemorrhagic changes (C).

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  Fig. 3 (A) Tumor glands invaded into the submucosa layer of the colon (H&E, ×40). (B) High-power view of microcystic cystadenocarcinoma showed cuboidal epithelial lining with optically-clear cytoplasm (H&E, ×400).

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