Pancreatic ductal cell carcinoma producing pancreatic elastase 1

The elevation of plasma pancreatic elastase 1 in patients with pancreatic cancer is caused by concomitant pancreatitis. There is no report that pancreatic ductal cell carcinoma tissue itself produced elastase 1. A 54-year-old woman underwent total pancreatectomy for pancreatic ductal cell carcinoma. Her plasma elastase 1 level subsequently decreased from the preoperative value of 406 ng/dl to values ranging between 96 ng/dl and 119 ng/dl, until 6 months after the operation, when it began to increase gradually to a maximum of 300 ng/dl in association with local recurrence and hepatic metastasis. Immunohistochemical staining of elastase 1 was positive in the primary tumor resected at operation as well as in the locally recurrent and hepatic metastatic tumors obtained at autopsy. These findings suggested that elastase 1 was produced by the tumor cells in this patient. This is the first case in which pancreatic ductal cell carcinoma cells produced elastase 1.