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Metachronous metastatic pancreatoblastoma to the liver in an elderly patient misdiagnosed as pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma
  1. Nina L Eng1,
  2. Kriti Tiwari2,
  3. Guoli Chen2 and
  4. June S Peng3
  1. 1Department of General Surgery, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
  2. 2Department of Pathology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
  3. 3Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr June S Peng; jpeng1{at}pennstatehealth.psu.edu

Abstract

A woman in her 80s was evaluated for a liver mass. She had a history of what was reported as pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma resected with a pancreatoduodenectomy 10 years prior at another institution. Liver biopsy showed metastatic pancreatoblastoma (PB) and staging imaging showed no evidence of additional metastatic disease. She underwent laparoscopic non-anatomic partial hepatectomy and recovered uneventfully. The liver pathology was reviewed along with slides from her initial pancreatoduodenectomy, and both were noted to be consistent with PB. PB contains similar histological characteristics to pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma. Distinguishing between the two diagnoses is critical for accurately defining the prevalence, clinical course and prognosis associated with PB.

  • Surgical oncology
  • Gastrointestinal surgery
  • Pathology
  • Pancreas and biliary tract
  • Pancreatic cancer

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Footnotes

  • Contributors JSP is the senior surgical oncologist and corresponding author who directly provided patient care to the patient described in the report, identified this case for publication submission, and oversaw the progress and completion of the case report. NLE is the first author who extracted clinical data for the report, performed the literature review, drafted the report and prepared for final submission. KT is the second author who extracted pathology data for the case and drafted the specific paragraphs relating to the histological work-up and key conclusions. NLE and KT worked on the revisions to the manuscript for resubmission. GC is the senior pathologist who oversaw and made edits to the contributions from KT.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.