A Case of Adenosquamous Carcinoma of the Pancreas

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas is a rare but particularly virulent variant of invasive ductal carcinoma. In Korea, total 4 cases of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas have been reported. Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas has a slight male preponderance, but the reported cases in Korea were all men. We present a case of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas in a 62-year-old woman. Abdominal CT scan revealed a lobulated cystic mass lesion in the pancreatic tail which invaded into the spleen and splenic flexure of the colon. We performed distal pancreatectomy, splenectomy, segmental resection of the colon, and partial resection of the left diaphragm. Histologic findings were consistent with diagnosis of adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas. The patient had an adjuvant therapy with gemcitabine alone, but died due to progressive disease including liver metastasis 2.7 months after surgery. Strategies to cope with this deadly disease are discussed based on a review of literature.