Abstract
A case of mucinous cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas which was treated by total pancreatectomy after a 4-year follow-up period was experienced. In this paper the process of the tumor growth and appropriate treatment are described. A 78-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of epigastric discomfort. She had been diagnosed as having a pancreatic cyst, 1.5cm in diameter, associated with chronic pancreatitis at elsewhere 4 years before, and was followed on by abdominal CT and echogram every 2 years. On admission to the hospital, CT and echogram revealed the enlarged cystic lesion with a diameter of 6.0cm at the head and body of the pancreas. She was diagnosed as having a mucinous cystadenocarcinoma. Total pancreatectomy was carried out because multiple small cysts were observed in the pancreatic body and tail. Histologically, the tumor was composed of several different components such as papillary growth of well differentiated adenocarcinoma, cluster of atypical cells and simple columnar lining cells without atypia, and cancerous change of the cystadenoma was highly suspected.
