Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Pancreas

Abstract

Pancreatic malignancies can be subdivided into endocrine and non-endocrine processes. Of the non-endocrine tumours, ductal carcinoma is the most common, and the ductal carcinomas can be further subdivided into adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. The adenocarcinomas constitute most of the non-endocrine pancreatic malignancies, and the treatment options for these, although limited in efficacy, are relatively well established. The squamous cell carcinoma pathology is a rare entity, and few reports of it are found in the literature. As a result, treatment options for squamous cell carcinoma of the pancreas are poorly understood. Here, we report the presentation of a 48-year-old woman with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the pancreas. The subsequent investigations, treatment, and outcome are described.

Genomic characteristics of pancreatic squamous cell carcinoma, an investigation by using high throughput sequencing after in-solution hybrid capture

“…As a result, the characteristics of SCC remain poorly verified. It is noteworthy that, due to its rare incidence, cases about pancreatic SCC are firstly presumed to be metastatic from other primary site [ 21 ]. Metastatic spread of primary lung or esophageal SCC sometimes has been reported to pretend to be primary pancreatic SCC [ 5 , 22 ].…”

“…By now, there are only twenty reported cases of pancreatic SCC (Table 7 ) [ 5 , 14 – 16 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 24 – 35 ], providing limited, but valuable clinical information. The clinical presentation of SCC is similar to that of AC.…”

“…The clinical presentation of SCC is similar to that of AC. As the cases have been reported, thirteen patients were presented with an initial symptom of abdominal or back pain [ 15 , 16 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 24 , 27 , 28 , 30 – 32 , 34 , 35 ]. Rest of them were also referred with fatigue, anorexia, nausea, tarry stool, weight loss, or jaundice when found [ 5 , 14 , 16 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 33 ].…”

“…Rest of them were also referred with fatigue, anorexia, nausea, tarry stool, weight loss, or jaundice when found [ 5 , 14 , 16 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 33 ]. Imaging examination or laparotomy detected the mass of the pancreas and found that nine of them were in the head [ 5 , 16 , 19 , 21 , 25 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 32 ], three in the body [ 16 , 18 , 35 ], four in the tail [ 14 , 28 , 31 , 34 ], and three in both body and tail [ 24 , 26 , 33 ]. The remaining one was not mentioned, since the patient was unresectable with liver metastasis at diagnosis [ 15 ].…”

“…One was moderately to poorly differentiated [ 31 ]. Another one was poorly differentiated SCC [ 21 ]. The rest of the cases were not mentioned.…”