A Case of Adenoendocrine Cell Carcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater

Tomoya Abe, Tetsuyuki Uchiyama, Masaru Onuma, Taku Kitayama, Takashi Kato, Yasuhiko Kamiyama, Hideo Ise and Mika Watanabe*

Department of Surgery, Ishinomaki Municipal Hospital
Department of Pathology, Tohoku University Hospital*

A 73-year-old man admitted for obstructive jaundice was found in histological examination of a biopsied specimen of the papilla of Vater to have adenocarcinoma. We conducted pancreaticoduodenectomy with regional lymph node dissection. Histologically, the tumor consisted of solid nests of eosinophilic atypical cells with adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemically, staining was positive for NSE and chromogranin A. The definitive diagnosis was adenoendocrine cell carcinoma. Although the prognosis of endocrine cell carcinoma is ordinarily dismal, the man has remained disease-free in the 14 months since surgery, presumably thanks to adjuvant chemotherapy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only seventh case ever reported of endocrine cell carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater in Japan.

Key words
adenoendocrine cell carcinoma, ampulla of Vater, adjuvant chemotherapy

Reprint requests
Tomoya Abe Department of Surgery, Ishinomaki Municipal Hospital
1-7-20 Minamihama-machi, Ishinomaki, 986-0835 JAPAN

Accepted
November 22, 2006

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