Intraductal papillary mucinous tumors of the pancreas

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of intraductal papillary mucinous tumors o f the pancreas have been reported in recent years. The indolent character a nd favorable prognosis of this neoplasm have been described. METHODS: Intraductal papillary mucinous tumors were classified into main du ct type (n = 8) and branch type (n = 28) according to the dominant location of the tumor. This single-institute study examined the clinicopathological features and outcome after surgical resection in patients with intraductal papillary mucinous tumors. RESULTS: The gender, age, tumor size, and prognosis were quite similar for the main duct type and branch type groups. Branch type tumors were more fre quently located in the head of the pancreas than were main duct type tumors . Histological examination revealed that 88% of main duct type tumors were adenocarcinomas; however, only 46% of branch type tumors were adenocarcinom as. Five-year survival rates for the patients with all main duct type tumor s (n = 8), main duct type adenocarcinoma (n = 7), all branch type tumors (n = 28), and branch duct adenocarcinoma (n = 13) were 100%, 100%, 90.6%, and 90.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Intraductal papillary mucinous tumors had a favorable prognosi s after surgical treatment. A curative pancreatectomy should be indicated f or this localized malignant tumor. (C) 1999 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.