1995 Volume 56 Issue 5 Pages 1043-1049
A 68-year-old man was seen at the hospital because of an increasing body weight loss, unquenchable thirst and back pain. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a tumor in the head of the pancreas. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed. The tumor was whitish and 23mm in diameter. Pathological diagnosis was anaplastic ductal carcinoma (giant cell type). Sixty cases including this case have been reported in Japan. Of these cases, there were 48 giant cell carcinomas, five giant cell carcinomas (osteoclastoid type) and seven spindle cell carcinomas. Many tumors were huge, with the average diameter of 87.9mm. Imaging findings of the disease were characterized by hypervascularity on angiography and cystic component in the tumor is a relatively whigh incidence. The prognosis was poor in many cases, because these patients were often diagnosed when the disease was in an advanced stage.
