Usefulness of immunohistochemical staining for MUC5AC in differentiating primary pancreatic cancer from pancreatic metastasis of breast cancer

Fine needle aspiration of pancreatic lesions focusing on secondary tumors with emphasis of metastatic breast cancer: A clinicopathological study with follow-up

BACKGROUND

The data on metastatic tumors to the pancreas diagnosed by fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy is limited. We report our experience of FNA of primary and secondary pancreatic tumors emphasizing metastatic breast cancer in the pancreas.

METHOD

Total 274 cases of pancreatic FNA in 10 years were retrospectively reviewed. Literature review of metastatic breast cancers to the pancreas was performed.

RESULTS

Out of the 274 cases, 7 (7/274, 2.6%) cases were non-diagnostic, 46 (46/274, 16.8%) cases were negative for malignancy, and 40 (40/274, 14.6%) cases were under the category of atypical cells. There were 133 (133/274, 48.5%) cases diagnosed as positive for malignancy, 20 (20/274, 7.3%) suspicious for malignancy, and 28 (28/274, 10.2%) cases in the category of neoplastic: other. The most common neoplasm diagnosed was ductal adenocarcinoma (114/274, 41.6%; 114/133, 85.7% in positive for malignancy category). Ten cases (10/274, 3.7%) were diagnosed as metastatic neoplasms to the pancreas, including four breast infiltrating ductal carcinomas (IDC), one endocervical adenocarcinoma, one anal/rectal squamous cell carcinoma, one renal cell carcinoma, one hepatocellular carcinoma, one seminoma and one lung adenocarcinoma. We summarized the biomarkers of the four metastatic breast cancers and conducted literature review on biomarkers of metastatic breast cancers to the pancreas.

CONCLUSIONS

Upon analyzing FNAs of primary and secondary tumors in the pancreas, we have found breast carcinoma is the most common secondary pancreatic neoplasm in our patient population. Triple negative breast ductal carcinoma is the most common tumor among the metastasis of breast carcinomas to the pancreas. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report with a literature review focusing on biomarkers of metastatic breast cancer to the pancreas.

Breast cancer suspected to originate from familial hereditary tumors: A case report

If familial hereditary tumor is suspected, diagnosis and treatment should always be performed considering the presence of familial hereditary tumors irrespective of whether genetic testing is performed.

Evaluation of serum MUC5AC in combination with CA19-9 for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

Background

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly aggressive tumor with a poor prognosis that lacks specific diagnostic markers. Mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) is a member of the mucin family, a heterogeneous group of high molecular weight, heavily glycosylated proteins that could be either membrane-bound or secreted. This multi-central study is to evaluate the performance of serum MUC5AC in combination with carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) for the diagnosis of PC in Asian.

Methods

Sixty-one patients with PC (comprised of early pancreatic cancer [n = 30] and late pancreatic cancer [n = 31] patients), 29 benign control, 35 choledocholithiasis, 25 chronic pancreatitis, and 34 healthy controls, were recruited from two hospitals. Serum levels of MUC5AC were evaluated by commercial ELISA kits. CA19-9 was measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay. The cutoff value of MUC5AC was determined based on optimal sensitivity and specificity.

Results

Serum MUC5AC in patients with PC (210.1 [100.5–423.8] ng/mL) presented higher levels than those in controls. The combined biomarker panel (MUC5AC and CA19-9) presented better performance and improved specificity to differentiate PC from controls (AUC 0.894; 95% CI (0.844–0.943), sensitivity 0.738, specificity 0.886) than CA19-9 (p = 0.043) or MUC5AC alone (p = 0.010); however, the latter two had no difference (p = 0.824).

Conclusions

Serum MUC5AC is a potential biomarker for PC. The combination with CA19-9 presents improved specificity and better performance.