Neuroendocrine ampullary tumors: spectrum of disease including the first report of a neuroendocrine carcinoma of non-small cell type.
Primary neuroendocrine tumors of the ampulla of Vater are rare. These tumors, like those of the respiratory tract and remainder of the gastrointestinal tract, appear along a histologic spectrum of increasing malignancy from low-grade carcinoid tumors to high-grade small cell undifferentiated cancers. We herein describe the characteristics of these ampullary neoplasms and report the first case of a neuroendocrine carcinoma of non-small cell type, which represents the middle of this histologic continuum. This tumor seems to follow a more aggressive course than the carcinoid tumor but less aggressive than its small cell counterpart.
Emory
R E
RE
Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn 55905.
Emory
T S
TS
Goellner
J R
JR
Grant
C S
CS
Nagorney
D M
DM
D000368:Aged; D014670:Ampulla of Vater; D002276:Carcinoid Tumor / Q000473:pathology*; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000473:pathology*; D003138:Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male