Abstract
A 61-year-old man complaining of abdominal pain was admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. Close examinations disclosed a tumor at the head of the pancreas. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed with the diagnosis of main pancreatic duct type intraductal papillary mucinous tumor of the pancreatic head. Macroscopic findings of the resected specimen revealed a 0.5 × 0.3 × 4 cm tumor which filled the main pancreatic duct at the pancreatic head. Histopathological study showed cancer cells which overlaid the pancreatic duct and the surface of the tumor, with stromal invasion. In the stroma, mononuclear to multinuclear atypical cells proliferated, osteoclast-like multinuclear giant cells were remarkable, and osteosarcoma component with osteoid was present. Accordingly carcinosarcoma of the pancreatic head was diagnosed. He has been free from recurrence for more than five years after the operation.
Carcinosarcoma arisen in the pancreas is extremely rare and carries poor prognosis in almost all cases. Since no long-term survival patients with the disease have been reported so far, we here present our case, together with a review of the literature.
