Solid and cystic tumor of the pancreas--three cases report

Solid and cystic tumor of the pancreas is a rare, low-grade malignant tumor that predominantly occurs in young women. Clinically, the patients are often asymptomatic and are usually found incidentally due to other diseases. The pre-operative diagnosis is difficult due to the similarity to other cystic pancreatic lesions (such as serous adenoma, mucinous cystadenoma and endocrinologically inactive islet cell tumor), or inflammatory changes (such as pancreatic pseudocyst). This tumor has a slow growth, usually does not have metastases and has a favorable prognosis. Complete removal is the treatment of choice for the tumors arising anywhere in the pancreas. We collected specimens of pancreatic tumors that were kept at Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (KMUH) in the past 11 years. Three cases varying in clinical course were found. The first is a case of a middle aged woman with a slow growing tumor who had a misdiagnosis of pseudocyst eight years ago. The second is a case of a young woman that showed no symptoms, while the third case was also a young woman diagnosed with a huge tumor with portal vein and inferior vessel encasement. We review some articles to revise the study of this disease in order to make the correct diagnosis before proceeding with the operation, and to provide proper treatment.