Topic Highlight
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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Sep 15, 2014; 6(9): 351-359
Published online Sep 15, 2014. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v6.i9.351
Pathology handling of pancreatoduodenectomy specimens: Approaches and controversies
María del Carmen Gómez-Mateo, Luis Sabater-Ortí, Antonio Ferrández-Izquierdo
María del Carmen Gómez-Mateo, Department of Pathology, Hospital Universitario Donostia, 20014 San Sebastián, Guipuzcoa, Spain
Luis Sabater-Ortí, Department of General and Gastroenterological Surgery, Hospital Clínico Valencia, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Antonio Ferrández-Izquierdo, Department of Pathology, Hospital Clínico Valencia, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Author contributions: Gómez-Mateo MC, Sabater-Ortí L and Ferrández-Izquierdo A designed and wrote the introductory editorial for the Topic Highlight: “Pathology handling of pancreatoduodenectomy specimens”.
Correspondence to: Dr. María del Carmen Gómez-Mateo, Department of Pathology, Hospital Universitario Donostia, Calle Doctor Begiristain 117, 20014 San Sebastián, Guipuzcoa, Spain. mcgomezmateo@hotmail.com
Telephone: +34-943-007002 Fax: +34-943-007151
Received: August 14, 2013
Revised: October 21, 2013
Accepted: December 17, 2013
Published online: September 15, 2014
Core Tip

Core tip: Pancreatic cancer, one of the most lethal tumor types, is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in developed countries. The need to prolong patient survival has prompted the development of improved protocols to evaluate duodenopancreatectomy specimens and their surgical margins by pathologists. Despite the availability of several guidelines and their continual updating, there is no consensus on basic issues such as surgical margins or the definition of incomplete excision. We herein review the controversies and approaches in the literature and present our own protocol for the handling and reporting of pancreatoduodenectomy specimens by pathologists.