Pancreatic neoplasms

Changed by Matt A. Morgan, 10 Feb 2016

Updates to Article Attributes

Body was changed:

There are numerous primary pancreatic neoplasms, in part due to the mixed endocrine and exocrine components.

Classification

Classification based on function
  • exocrine: ~99% of all primary pancreatic neoplasms
  • endocrine: were previously referred as islet cell tumors because they were thought to have originated from the islets of Langerhans. However, new evidence suggests that these tumors originate from pluripotential stem cells in ductal epithelium 6
    • non-functional
    • functional
  • mesenchymal tumours
    • although the great majority of both benign and malignant pancreatic neoplasms arise from pancreatic epithelial cells, mesenchymal tumours, while rare, can derive from the connective, lymphatic, vascular, and neuronal tissues of the pancreas 7
    • they account for 1-2% of all pancreatic tumours and are classified according to their histologic origin 7
  • other
Exocrine tumours

See also: cystic pancreatic mass: differential diagnosis

Endocrine tumours

Endocrine tumours of the pancreas are divided into:

  • functional: ~85%
  • non-functional: ~15%
    • third most common
    • 85-100% malignant
    • usually larger, as a result of lack of hormonal activity, the clinical presentations are usually delayed till they become large
Mesenchymal tumours tumours

Account for 1-2% of all pancreatic tumours and are classified according to their histologic origin 7:

Classification based on location 
Head
Body and tail
Intraductal
  • -<strong>mesenchymal tumours </strong><ul>
  • +<a title="Pancreatic mesenchymal tumours" href="/articles/pancreatic-nonepithelial-neoplasms-1"><strong>mesenchymal tumours </strong></a><ul>
  • -</ul><h5>Mesenchymal tumours</h5><p>Account for 1-2% of all pancreatic tumours and are classified according to their histologic origin <sup>7</sup>:</p><ul>
  • -<li>lymphangioma: <a href="/articles/pancreatic-lymphangioma">pancreatic lymphangioma</a>
  • -</li>
  • -<li>lipoma: <a href="/articles/pancreatic-lipoma">pancreatic lipoma</a>
  • -</li>
  • -<li><a href="/articles/pancreatoblastoma">pancreatoblastoma</a></li>
  • -<li>teratoma: <a href="/articles/pancreatic-teratoma">pancreatic teratoma</a>, which can also be cystic</li>
  • -<li>
  • -<a href="/articles/pancreatic-lymphoma">lymphoma</a>: <a href="/articles/pancreatic-lymphoma">pancreatic lymphoma</a>
  • -</li>
  • -<li>schwannoma</li>
  • -<li>neurofibroma</li>
  • -<li>sarcoma</li>
  • -</ul><h5>Classification based on location </h5><h6>Head</h6><ul>
  • +</ul><h5>Mesenchymal tumours</h5><p>Account for 1-2% of all pancreatic tumours and are classified according to their histologic origin <sup>7</sup>:</p><p>These are further discussed at <a href="/articles/pancreatic-mesenchymal-neoplasms">pancreatic mesenchymal neoplasms</a></p><h5>Classification based on location </h5><h6>Head</h6><ul>

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