Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 14, 2015; 21(2): 694-698
Published online Jan 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i2.694
Locally advanced undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells of the pancreas
Hong-Qiao Gao, Yin-Mo Yang, Yan Zhuang, Ping Liu
Hong-Qiao Gao, Yin-Mo Yang, Yan Zhuang, Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China
Ping Liu, Department of Pathology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China
Author contributions: Gao HQ designed and wrote the paper; Yang YM organized the report; Zhuang Y performed the imaging diagnosis; Liu P performed the pathological examinations.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yin-Mo Yang, MD, Department of General Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China. yangyinmo@263.net
Telephone: +86-10-83572772 Fax: +86-10-66179730
Received: April 28, 2014
Peer-review started: April 29, 2014
First decision: May 29, 2014
Revised: July 7, 2014
Accepted: July 25, 2014
Article in press: July 25, 2014
Published online: January 14, 2015
Abstract

Undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells of the pancreas (UCOGCP) is an unusual pancreatic neoplasm that represents < 1% of all pancreatic malignancies. Moreover, the giant cells of UCOGCP morphologically resemble the benign giant cells of bone tumors. Due to the rarity of this tumor type, the histogenesis and biologic behavior of UCOGCP remain controversial. Here, we report a case of UCOGCP that exhibited an invasive growth pattern involving infiltration of the adjacent bowel loop and portal vein, as well as superior mesenteric vein thrombosis. The patient underwent a distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy and partial colectomy, followed by four cycles of gemcitabine chemotherapy. No evidence of recurrence was detected after ten years. In addition to this case, clinical information on other UCOGCP cases reported in the English literature is summarized.

Keywords: Undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells, Pancreas, Locally advanced

Core tip: Undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells of the pancreas (UCOGCP) is an unusual pancreatic neoplasm and the histogenesis and biologic behavior of UCOGCP remain controversial. We report a case of locally advanced UCOGCP with infiltration of the adjacent colon and portal vein. Ten years after extended distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy and colectomy, the patient is still alive without any evidence of recurrence.