[Gestagen receptor-positive, solid-cystic acinar-cell tumor of the pancreas]

Solid pseudopapillary tumour (Frantz's tumour) of the pancreas in childhood

An 11-year-old girl presented with acute pancreatitis and mass in the head of the pancreas. MRI revealed a heterogeneous right-upper quadrant retroperitoneal mass measuring 6.8×6.1×5.5 cm arising from the pancreatic head. Endoscopic ultrasound with fine-needle aspirate revealed a solid pseudopapillary tumour (SPT) of the pancreas. The patient underwent a pylorus-preserving Whipple procedure. Pathology confirmed SPT. First described by Frantz, SPT represents less than 3% of all exocrine tumours. It is especially rare in children and shows different clinical features compared with adults. In our patient, tumour cells were arranged at the periphery of fibrovascular cores, but they did not show definite gland formation, keratinisation or cytoplasmic pigment accumulation. A periodic acid-Schiff stain without diastase did not show appreciable glycogen within the tumour cells, classic for Frantz's tumour. The literature, diagnosis, management and pathogenesis on this rare entity in children are reviewed and discussed.

Solid-pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas: a neoplasm with distinct and highly characteristic cytological features

The solid-pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas (SPTP) is an unusual low-grade malignant epithelial tumor affecting predominantly adolescent girls and young women. Although approximately 500 cases of SPTP have been described in the last 40 yr, its pathogenesis remains uncertain. However, the clinical features of this neoplasm are very characteristic and SPTP must be suspected in any young woman with a cystic or partially cystic pancreatic mass. In this report, we describe the cytologic features of seven cases of SPTP investigated by preoperative fine-needle aspirates. The analysis of the cytologic features in these cases and in 43 cases collected from the literature reveals that they are highly characteristic and quite distinct from those of other cystic or solid tumors of the pancreas. On this basis, a cytologic diagnosis of SPTP may be rendered with great confidence, not only in clinically typical examples, but also in unusual presentations, such as in older patients, in males, in ectopic locations, and in metastatic sites.

Solid and cystic papillary neoplasm of the pancreas: a clinico-cytopathologic and immunocytochemical study of five new cases diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration cytology and a review of the literature

We report here on five new cases of solid and cystic papillary neoplasm (SCPN) of the pancreas diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). All cytologic samples were obtained by ultrasonography, and the smears were conventionally fixed and stained. Special histochemical and immunocytochemical stains were also performed in some samples. Cytology revealed in all but one case numerous pseudopapillary structures composed of fibrovascular stalks lined with one or more layers of bland-appearing, uniform tumor cells. The tumor cells had round-to-oval euchromatic nuclei with frequently folded smooth contours and one or two small nucleoli. Their cytoplasm often contained eosinophilic, PAS-positive, and diastase-resistant inclusions. Foamy cells, psammoma bodies, blood, and cellular debris were found in the background. The criteria for the differential diagnosis versus other pancreatic lesions are discussed in some detail, as is the role of immunocytochemistry (ICC). In the literature, only 28 cases of cytologically investigated SCPN have been reported to the best of our knowledge. The most helpful criteria for the conclusive identification of SCPN by FNAC include the pseudopapillary arrangement with bland-appearing tumor cells, and, especially, the finding of acidophilic, PAS-positive, and diastase-resistant cytoplasmic granules.

Aspiration cytologic, ultrastructural, and DNA cytometric findings of solid and papillary tumor of the pancreas

Solid and papillary epithelial neoplasm of the pancreas (SPENP) is a rare lesion characteristically occurring in young women. By contrast with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas, SPENP is a slow-growing tumor that rarely metastasizes or is fatal. The current report describes light and electron microscopic and histochemical findings with DNA flow cytometric analyses of two cases of SPENP. The first patient was a 24-year-old woman; the second, a 72-year-old man. Although SPENP is rare in older men, both patients had characteristic radiographic and light microscopic features of SPENP. Ultrastructural evidence of acinar differentiation was seen in the first patient; the second patient had focal neuroendocrine differentiation. Flow cytometric analysis of the first tumor demonstrated diploid-range DNA content with a 5.8% S-phase fraction (SPF). The DNA cytometric analysis of a biopsy specimen from the second tumor revealed diploid-range DNA content with a 6.1% SPF, although subsequent sampling of the resected tumor showed an aneuploid population with a DNA index of 1.8 and SPF of 2.1%.

Solid and cystic pancreatic tumors. Clinical, histochemical, and electron microscopic features in ten cases

Ten cases of the rare solid and cystic pancreatic tumors are presented. All except one occurred in young women (mean age, 25 +/- 9.2 years). The large neoplasms were evenly distributed across the pancreas; in one case, metastasis occurred; all other cases were free from disease after complete resection. Histologic hallmarks of solid and cystic neoplasms were papillary growth, large intracytoplasmic granules, and immunoreactivity with alpha 1-antitrypsin, alpha 1-antichymotrypsin, phospholipase A2, and neuroendocrine markers (neuron-specific enolase [NSE], synaptophysin). This suggests both endocrine as well as exocrine differentiation.

Solid-cystic tumour of the pancreas. An endocrine neoplasm?

Immunohistochemical studies and DNA flow-cytometric investigations were performed in a case of solid-cystic tumour of the pancreas in a 35-year-old woman. All tumour cells were immunoreactive for the neuroendocrine cell markers chromogranin A and neuron-specific gamma-enolase. Moreover, about 10% of tumour cells were immunoreactive for insulin, while hypoglycaemia was absent. Few tumour cells (less than 1%) were immunoreactive for somatostatin, and no cells were found to be immunoreactive for pancreatic polypeptide or glucagon. No immunoreactivity was present for duct cell marker carcino-embryonic antigen and only individual cells were reactive for alpha 1-antitrypsin. Nuclear DNA content of the tumour cells was diploid and the proliferative activity was low. In confirmation of some reports on neuroendocrine markers in solid-cystic tumour of the pancreas, our findings support the theory that the lesion is a hormonally inactive neuroendocrine pancreatic tumour.