Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-producing pancreatic anaplastic carcinoma in ascitic fluid at initial...

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-producing pancreatic tumors are extremely rare. These tumors have an aggressive clinical course and no established treatment. Here, we report an autopsy case of G-CSF-production in pancreatic anaplastic carcinoma (PAC). A 72-year-old woman presented with a large pancreatic head mass and multiple liver metastases. Laboratory data showed leukocytosis (leukocyte count 113.3 × 10³ /µL) and high serum G-CSF levels (441 pg/mL; normal range: <39.0 pg/mL). The ascitic fluid was submitted to our pathology laboratory at initial diagnosis. Cytopathology showed that smears from the ascitic fluid were highly cellular and contained numerous malignant cells, mainly in loose groupings. Occasional pseudoglandular formations and giant cells were also present. The malignant cells were round, and no spindle-shaped cells were visible. The nuclei were round to ovoid with coarsely granular chromatin and large prominent nucleoli. Upon immunocytochemistry, tumor cells were positive for G-CSF and vimentin; there was no E-cadherin expression. Histopathological examination of the tumor showed a mixed composition of adenocarcinomatous and sarcomatous regions. Upon immunohistochemistry, both components were positive for G-CSF. Few CD34-positive myeloblasts were observed in the bone marrow. Thus, we diagnosed this as a case of G-CSF production in PAC with leukocytosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on G-CSF expression immunocytochemically confirmed in PAC. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:463-467. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.