PANCREATOBLASTOMA - A RARE MALIGNANT PANC REATIC TUMOR IN CHILDHOOD

Between 1885 and 1991 only 71 cases of malignant pancreatic tumours in childhood and adolescence have been reported in literature; the major ity of these were pancreatoblastomas. The symptoms, pathology and ther apy of this rare tumour are demonstrated in the case of a 17-year-old girl. The tumour is believed to develop at an early stage of pancreati c cell differentiation. Usually it is composed of both exocrine and en docrine cell types. The treatment of choice is radical resection. In c ontrast to pancreatic neoplasms in adult patients the pancreatoblastom a has a favourable prognosis. The role of adjuvant chemotherapy or rad iotherapy is still under discussion due to the small number of patient s treated as yet.