Lymphoepithelial Cyst of the Pancreas Associated with Carcinoma of the Pancreas: A Case Report

Masatoshi Shigeta, Keiji Okamura, Yuji Fujita, Yasuhiro Kouchi and Hiroshi Miyashita

Department of Surgery, Social Insurance Tokuyama Central Hospital

We report a rare case of a lymphoepithelial cyst (LEC) of the pancreas associated with pancreatic carcinoma. A 58-year-old man reporting abdominal pain and found to have a cystic mass in the pancreatic tail, and high serum CA19-9 was found in computer tomography and angiography to have a possible cystic neoplasm of the pancreas, possibly a cystoadenocarcinoma. Subsequent distal pancreatectomy diagnosed the mass as LEC. One year later, his serum CA19-9 again was elevated, and a solid cystic lesion was found in the residual pancreas. Endoscopic fine-needle aspiration biopsy showed cancer in the residual pancreas, necessitating total pancreatectomy. LEC is a rare benign cyst of the pancreas lined by squamous epithelium and uncertain of pathogenesis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of LEC of the pancreas associated with pancreatic cancer.

Key words
lymphoepithelial pancreatic cyst, pancreatic cancer

Reprint requests
Masatoshi Shigeta 1st Department of Surgery, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine
1-1-1 Minami-Kogushi, Ube, 755-8505 JAPAN

Accepted
November 30, 2004

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