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Review
. 2021 Jun 15;13(6):e15668.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.15668.

Primary Clear Cell Carcinoma of the Pancreas: A Systematic Review

Toufic Tannous  1 , Audrik L Perez Rodriguez  2 , Andrew W Mak  3 , Karim Tannous  4 , Matthew Keating  5
Affiliations
Review

Primary Clear Cell Carcinoma of the Pancreas: A Systematic Review

Toufic Tannous et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Over the years, the world has witnessed many advances in diagnosing and treating multiple types of cancers. These breakthroughs have revolutionized the understanding of the molecular drive behind these neoplasms, leading to tangible therapeutic evolution and promising prognostic implications. However, pancreatic cancer remains a highly lethal disease. With recent discoveries, modern medicine has been able to delineate histopathologic subtypes of pancreatic cancer in hopes of improved diagnosis and treatment to improve survival. A once vague entity, clear cell adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, in particular, has been better characterized on a histopathological and molecular level over the past two decades. With novel technological support, this disease has become less inconspicuous, and more researchers have reported its occurrence. Its diagnosis relies heavily on a mix of histological and immunohistochemical clues such as a clear cell cytoplasm and positivity for cytokeratins and other markers. However, new molecular markers, such as hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 beta, have been associated with this entity and may aid in further diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This review article aims to portray how the identification and description of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the pancreas have evolved over the past few decades and how this may impact future treatment strategies.

Keywords: carcinoma pancreas; clear cell cancer; ductal pancreatic carcinoma; molecular biomarker; primary clear cell carcinoma of the pancreas.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram for our systematic review
Figure 2
Figure 2. Infiltrating adenocarcinoma showing a clear cell pattern
Note: Reprinted from Modi Y, Shaaban H, Gauchan D, Maroules M, Parikh N, Guron G: Primary clear cell ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas: a case report and clinicopathologic literature review. J Cancer Res Ther. 2014, 10:773-776. 10.4103/0973-1482.136043 [24]
Figure 3
Figure 3. CCCP diagnostic pathway
CCCP: clear cell carcinoma of the pancreas
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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