Non-functioning Well Differentiated Endocrine Carcinoma of the Pancreas

The author reports a typical but rare case of non-functioning well differentiated endocrine carcinoma of the pancreas. A 67-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of abdominal pain. No hormone-related symptoms were recognized. He has no familiar history of pancreatic neoplasms. Various imaging modalities including US, CT and MRI revealed a tumor of the pancreatic body. Distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy were performed. A solid well demarcated tumor was present in the pancreatic body. Peripancreatic lymph nodes showed marked swelling suggestive of metastases. Immunohistyochemically, tumor cells were positive for cytokeratin, synaptophysin, neuron-specific enolase, and CD56; they were negative for chromogranin, gastrin, glucagon, somatostatin, pancreatic polypeptide, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. The pathological diagnosis was non-functioning well differentiated endocrine carcinoma of the pancreas.