title: Clinicopathological aspects of 542 cases of pancreatic cancer: a special emphasis on small pancreatic cancer.
abstract: Small pancreatic cancers (longest diameter </=2 cm) have been regarded as preliminary to early pancreatic cancer, which was thought to be highly curable. During our experience since 1989, we evaluated 542 cases of pancreatic cancer. Among them we found 74 cases of tumors </=2 cm in diameter, small pancreatic cancer (TS1 pancreatic cancer). Well-differentiated adenocarcinomas (18.9%) and absence of symptoms (8.1%) were more frequent in patients with TS1 than in those with larger pancreatic tumors. Only 16 of the 74 patients (21.6%) with small pancreatic cancers had T1 tumors. According to the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) staging, only 11 patients (14.9%) were stage IA: their 5-yr survival rate was 23.3% and their median survival was 30.0 months. Among these 11 patients, 3 had tumors <1cm; their median survival time was 30.0 months and their 5-yr survival rate was 50.0%. These findings may indicate that 'small' pancreatic cancer is not equivalent to 'early' pancreatic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kee Wook
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Myung Hwan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tae Yoon
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seunghyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Hyoung Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Sang Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong Wan
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Sung Koo
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology; D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000473:pathology; D000231:Adenocarcinoma, Papillary / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology; D018196:Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / Q000473:pathology; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen