Pancreatic cancer associated with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor production confirmed by immunohistochemistry

Abstract

We report an 83-year-old man with pancreatic body cancer of 4.5 cm in diameter. Peripheral leukocyte count was 15,700/microl and the serum concentration of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was 123 pg/ml (normal, 6.0-21.9 pg/ml) on admission. Furthermore, not only K-ras codon 12 (GGT --> GAT) but also p53 at codon 247 (CGG --> CCG) mutations were identified in the pancreatic juice aspirated endoscopically. We performed chemotherapy with two courses of 5-fluorouracil, pirarubicin hydrochloride, and mitomycin-C, resulting in no beneficial effect. After the second course the patient developed interstitial pneumonia, probably caused by anticancer drugs, and died 4 months after the tumor was detected. In the autopsy tissue, the tumor macroscopically occupied the pancreas body and was 7 x 6 x 5 cm in size. Histopathologic diagnosis of the tumor was poorly differentiated adenosquamous carcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining of the autopsy tissue showed that pancreatic cancer cells were positive for G-CSF. This is the first case report of G-CSF-positive pancreatic cancer confirmed by immunohistochemistry.