2022 Volume 37 Issue 6 Pages 305-310
Chronic pancreatitis is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer, and surgical treatment of chronic pancreatitis prevents progression to pancreatic cancer. Therefore, few cases of pancreatic cancer are reported after surgical treatment of chronic pancreatitis. The patient is a 71-year-old woman status post longitudinal and lateral pancreatic jejunostomy for chronic pancreatitis at age 40 years. She was diagnosed with diabetes at age 55, and received regular follow-up as an outpatient since then. At age 71, computed tomography scan performed to investigate elevated carcinoembryonic antigen levels revealed a 20mm ischemic mass in the tail of the pancreas. The patient was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreatic tail, cT3N0M0, Stage IIA. After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the pancreatic tail was resected, with pancreaticojejunal anastomosis performed from the body of the pancreas to the tail. As the anastomosis did not overlap the pancreatic incision line, the jejunal limb with pancreaticojejunal anastomosis was also dissected. The pathological diagnosis was pancreatic cancer with anastomotic infiltration. Even after radical treatment for chronic pancreatitis, long-term follow-up may be necessary because of the continued risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
