title: Hepatoid carcinoma of the pancreas.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatoid carcinoma of the pancreas is extremely rare. This article tries to summarize the clinical features and outcomes of pancreatic hepatoid carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data pool for analysis includes the case we encountered with hepatoid carcinoma of the pancreas and the reported cases in the literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-three cases of hepatoid carcinoma of the pancreas were analyzed. This tumor occurred more frequently in male than in female patients (69.6 vs. 30.4 %). Tumor sizes range from 0.5 to 11.0 cm with median of 6.0 cm. The most common symptom was epigastric pain (36.4 %). When the tumor locates at pancreatic head, nausea/vomiting (62.5 %) is more common, followed by jaundice and epigastric pain (50.0 %). For those at pancreatic body-tail, 42.9 % of the patients presented no symptom. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was abnormally elevated in 60 % of the cases. Hepatoid carcinoma in the pancreas could be either pure form or mixed form with other malignancy (40.9 %), with the most common coexisted pathology of malignant neuroendocrine tumor (22.7 %). Metastasis occurred in 36.4 % of the cases at the diagnosis of this tumor, including liver metastasis in 31.8 % and lymph node metastasis in 21.1 %. The overall 1-year survival rate was 71.1 % and 5-year 40.4 %, with a median of 13.0 months. Unresectability, hepatic, and lymph node metastases are associated with negative impact on survival outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevation of serum AFP may be a clue leading to the diagnosis of pancreatic hepatoid carcinoma. This tumor could be mixed form with other malignancy. Surgical resection should be the treatment of choice whenever possible.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang Ming University, 10 F 201 Section 2 Shipai Road, Taipei, 112, Taiwan. pckuo3@vghtpe.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Po-Chung
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang Ming University, 10 F 201 Section 2 Shipai Road, Taipei, 112, Taiwan. cschin0505@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shih-Chin
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang Ming University, 10 F 201 Section 2 Shipai Road, Taipei, 112, Taiwan. ymshyr@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yi-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Shyr
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. yjkuo2@vghtpe.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Ying-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. rclee@vghtpe.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Rheun-Chuan
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang Ming University, 10 F 201 Section 2 Shipai Road, Taipei, 112, Taiwan. sewang0408@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shin-E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins