title: Malignant serous cystic neoplasm of the pancreas: report of a case and review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In general, serous cystic neoplasms of the pancreas are thought to be benign. Malignant serous cystic neoplasm of the pancreas is a rare clinical entity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report the case of an 87-year-old woman with a serous microcystic neoplasm in the tail of the pancreas that behaved in a malignant fashion. The neoplasm had also invaded the colonic mesentery and splenic hilum. The pancreatic lesion was diagnosed as a large malignant serous cystic neoplasm, and the patient underwent distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy and segmental colectomy. The resected specimen contained a large tumor, 12 x 9 x 8 cm, which occupied the body and tail of the pancreas. Histologically, the tumor was indistinguishable from serous cystadenoma. However, the tumor had invaded surrounding tissues including the splenic vein, and there were splenic invasion and a regional lymph node metastasis. The postoperative course was uneventful.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are few reported cases of malignant serous cystic neoplasm, in which malignancy was histologically confirmed in the resected specimen. There are no reports of a negative outcome with complete resection of the tumor. Surgical treatment should be considered for serous cystic neoplasms, especially large ones, because of the malignant potential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, 1-1 Idaigaoka Hasama-machi, Oita 879-5593, Japan. tmatsu@med.oita-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Seitaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yada
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamimura
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Seigo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitano
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kashima
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery