Pancreatic carcinoma associated with chronic calcifying pancreatitis

A total of 160 Japanese patients with pancreatic carcinoma were treated in the Department of Surgery I, Kyushu University Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan, from January 1976 to December 1991. Four of these patients had an accompanying pancreatic calcification with a 2.5% incidence of pancreatic carcinoma. Those four patients consisted of 52, 75, 75, and 82 year-old men. Three complained of jaundice and another developed an abdominal mass. Two of the four patients were diabetic and had a past history of heavy alcoholic intake. Three pancreatic carcinomas were located in the head of the pancreas, including two with multiple small calcifications in the entire pancreas and one with a solitary large calcification in the head. Another pancreas body carcinoma was associated with diffuse small calcifications both in and distal to the mass. In three pancreatic carcinomas, pancreatic calcification was demonstrated proximal and distal to the pancreatic carcinomas. All four patients died within 14 months after the clinical diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma. Although we cannot draw a definitive conclusion on the link because of the limited number of cases in this retrospective study, followup studies on patients with chronic calcifying pancreatitis are needed for clarification.