Acinar cell carcinoma with hypervascularity

Acinar cell carcinoma is an uncommon malignancy with a reported incidence o f 1% among exocrine tumors of the pancreas. The case of a 60-year-old Taiwa nese man who presented with obstructive jaundice, abdominal pain, and body weight loss is described here. A mixed clinical picture of islet cell tumor and ductal carcinoma of the pancreas was shown to be a hypervascular tumor at the pancreatic head region with an irregular stricture at the common ch annel of the common bile and pancreatic ducts. The patient had normal level s of plasma carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen 19-9, alpha -fet oprotein, but an increase in plasma levels of insulin and C-peptide. Immuno histochemical stains and electron microscopic examination of the tumor was consistent with acinar cell carcinoma. (C) 2001 Blackwell Science Asia Pty Ltd.