Gastrointestinal stromal tumors with pseudocystic change mimicking a pancreatic tumor: two case reports

INTRODUCTION: Cystic lesions of the upper abdomen normally develop from pancreatic tissue. The differential diagnoses include neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions. Pseudocystic tumors that secondarily involve the pancreas are very rare and may lead to diagnostic pitfalls. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man, both German, presented with abdominal cystic lesions suspected to be pancreatic pseudocysts. Both tumors were classified as gastrointestinal stromal tumors, epithelioid subtype. In one case, tumor origin in the gastric wall was confirmed by relaparotomy. In the other case, a point mutation in PDGFRalpha gene, exon 18 proved the diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumor. The tumors were resected and both patients are still alive and disease-free. CONCLUSIONS: The differential diagnosis of cystic lesions in the upper abdomen must include gastrointestinal stromal tumors with pseudocystic change. The origin of a large cystic gastrointestinal stromal tumor may be difficult to determine. Epithelioid tumor pattern, weak or absent KIT expression and detection of PDGFRalpha mutation are typical diagnostic parameters of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors.