Rapidly Progressing Anaplastic Carcinoma of the Pancreas with Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma: An Autopsy Case Report

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the pancreas: A case report and literature review

INTRODUCTION

Primary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is a common malignant neoplasm of the salivary glands, but is very rare in the pancreas. To date, only 10 cases have been reported in the literature. Because MEC of the pancreas is very rare, there is little information about its diagnosis, treatment, and metastasis. Herein, we present the eleventh case and review the relevant literature.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 65-year-old woman presented with a mass in the body of the pancreas and multiple masses in the liver on abdominal magnetic resonance imaging. The patient initially underwent EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration and was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma. After adjuvant chemotherapy, resection of the pancreatic body and tail was performed, and the tissues were pathologically, histologically, and immunochemically examined. Specific strains and gene rearrangements were analyzed.

DIAGNOSIS

Mucoepidermoid pancreatic cancer.

INTERVENTION

After a 4-month course of adjuvant chemotherapy, laparoscopic surgery was performed.

OUTCOMES

The patient is alive until the submission of this paper.

CONCLUSION

We presented a case of mucoepidermoid pancreatic cancer in a 65-year-old woman. Pathological examination revealed that the tumor parenchyma consisted of 3 cell types. There are mainly epidermoid cells, intermediate cells between the basal and epidermoid cells, and mucus-producing cells in varying proportions. Immunohistochemical staining showed that there were different types of cells with unique morphological characteristics. In summary, primary MECs of the pancreas are rare and have poor prognosis. Few studies have been conducted on the diagnosis, treatment, and metastasis of MECs; therefore, further studies are needed to detect them.

Diagnosis of Acute Pancreatitis Using Postmortem Computed Tomography and Postmortem Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Case Report and a Review of Literature

ABSTRACT

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is inflammation of the pancreas, which may be due to a wide variety of etiologies that share a final common pathway of premature activation of pancreatic enzymes and resultant autodigestion of pancreatic parenchyma. Acute pancreatitis is easy to diagnose clinically, with the presence of at least 2 of the 3 criteria (upper abdominal pain, serum amylase or lipase level greater than 3 times the upper limit of normal, or characteristic findings on imaging studies) of the revised Atlanta classification. However, postmortem imaging examinations of pancreatitis are extremely rare, and very few successful cases have been reported. Here, we present a case report of a single patient who underwent autopsy and postmortem imaging. Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) and postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMRI) showed peripancreatic inflammation and acute peripancreatic fluid collection in the left anterior pararenal space, which is consistent with the examination by autopsy. The advantages of PMMRI in AP have also been demonstrated. Our study also confirmed the advantage of PMCT angiography in the diagnosis of AP. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of PMCT and PMMRI combined with postmortem pathology in the diagnosis of AP.

Primary mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the intrahepatic bile duct: A case report

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common salivary gland carcinoma; however, hepatobiliary MEC is extremely rare. A 74-year-old patient was diagnosed with hepatobiliary MEC after hepatectomy. We considered its origin could be the peribiliary glands. Its genome profile was similar to salivary MEC rather than standard biliary tract carcinoma.