Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas, a rare tumor entity: a case report

Abstract

Introduction: Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas is a rare variant of exocrine pancreatic tumor. This type of tumor is extremely rare as only few similar cases have been described in the literature.

Case presentation: We present a case of a 72 years old male patient who was admitted to the hospital complaining of epigastric pain and jaundice. Pancreatic carcinoma of the head was diagnosed and a pylorus preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed.

Conclusion: This type of cancer is a very aggressive tumor followed by a dismisal prognosis. Multimodality therapy seems to be a reasonable approach but more studies are needed, to propose the most effective treatment.

Figure 1

CT scan of the patient showing the tumor.

Figure 2

(H&E ×20) Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas with area of necrosis.

Figure 3

(H&E ×40) Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas.

Figure 4

(H&E ×100) Adenocarcinoma similar to ductal carcinoma.

Figure 5

(H&E ×200) Squamous cell carcinoma composed of irregular nests of polygonal cells with no gland formation.

Figure 6

(H&E ×100) Lymph node metastasis only from the squamous element.

Figure 7

(Ker7 ×100) Ker7 showed predilection for adenocarcinoma.

Figure 8

(CK5/6 ×100) The squamous component was strongly immunoreactive with CK5/6, while the glandular component was negative.