A case of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas head with rapid growing feature

Abstract

A 77 year-old man had been successfully treated for a liver abscess by percutaneous drainage. Although there was no pancreatic lesion at that time, a pancreatic head tumor was discovered two months later. Computed tomography showed a 4-cm low-density area in the uncus of the pancreas, and endoscopic ultrasonography showed a small cystic component inside the tumor. Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging indicated suppression of diffusion in the tumor. A pancreatoduodenectomy was performed and a partial gastrectomy was added for the incidentally found early gastric cancer. Histopathological examination confirmed the pancreatic tumor was adenosquamous carcinoma. The images, retrospectively, showed the tumor rapidly increased in size in merely two months, which could indicate the distinctive characteristics of the adenosquamous carcinoma.