title: Inflammatory pseudotumor of the pancreas.
abstract: We describe a rare example of inflammatory pseudotumor of the pancreas in a 42-yr-old woman, which developed following chemotherapy for lymphoma of the uterine cervix. The patient had developed fatigue, weight loss, abdominal pain, and anemia; abdominal CT scan showed a large mass in the pancreas. Examination of the resected specimen revealed a fleshy, well-circumscribed, 7-cm mass. Histologically, there was a hypocellular to moderately hypercellular, bland spindle-cell proliferation admixed with a prominent infiltrate of lymphocytes, histiocytes, and plasma cells. The spindle cells were vimentin positive but negative for muscle markers; electron microscopy revealed only fibroblastic cells. DNA analysis revealed a diploid population with low S-phase fraction. The patient was well at 6-mo follow-up. It is important for the pathologist to be aware of the existence of this entity in unusual locations such as the pancreas so as to avoid a mistaken diagnosis of malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kroft
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Stryker
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ergun
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006104:Granuloma, Plasma Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA