Lymphoepithelial Cyst of the Pancreas

Abstract

The LEC of the pancreas is a rare benign tumor that could be treated conservatively. Fine needle aspiration is the only tool that can achieve a diagnosis without resection. If no certain diagnosis can be made, surgery is warranted to rule out a malignant differential diagnosis.

Pancreatic Lymphoepithelial Cyst Showing Multiple Floating Ball-like Appearances

“…According to this review, a pancreatic LEC is often recognized in middle-aged to elderly males (age average: 55 years; range: 20-82 years old; gender: 91 males vs. 26 females) and is sometimes accompanied by abdominal pain (43%) and an elevation of serum tumor marker CA19-9 (55%). The LECs form as both unilocular (40%) and multilocular (60%) cysts, uniformly distributed in the pancreatic head, body and tail [1,2,7]. These findings are not really specific to this particular disease, however, often being recognized in pancreatic neoplastic cystic lesions such as mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN) or intraductal papillary neoplasm (IPMN).…”

“…These findings are not really specific to this particular disease, however, often being recognized in pancreatic neoplastic cystic lesions such as mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN) or intraductal papillary neoplasm (IPMN). An accurate preoperative diagnosis has been obtained in only 25% of pancreatic LECs [2].…”

“…Mege et al [2] extracted and summarized the critical information from 117 previous studies in the literature. According to this review, a pancreatic LEC is often recognized in middle-aged to elderly males (age average: 55 years; range: 20-82 years old; gender: 91 males vs. 26 females) and is sometimes accompanied by abdominal pain (43%) and an elevation of serum tumor marker CA19-9 (55%).…”

“…A lymphoepithelial cyst (LEC) is a rare pancreatic lesion, typically recognized in middle-aged and elderly males, that develops equally in the pancreas head, body, or tail, with an either unilocular or multilocular formation [1][2][3]. These cysts are often symptomatic and incidentally found and are sometimes accompanied by abdominal pain [2].…”

“…These cysts are often symptomatic and incidentally found and are sometimes accompanied by abdominal pain [2]. They frequently elevate serum tumor markers such as the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), features that resemble pancreatic epithelial neoplasms; thus, an accurate preoperative diagnosis of LEC is often difficult [2]. Histologically, the pancreatic LEC is covered by a single or stratified squamous epithelium with lymphoid aggregation and/or lymph follicles within its cystic wall, with keratin production in the cyst.…”