| [ Summary ] |
The relationship between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer was studied, especially in pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), which was a new nomenclature and classification system for pancreatic duct lesions and putative precursor lesions related to pancreatic cancer.
In cases with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis, PanIN-1A / 1B lesions were found in 7 out of 13 cases and intraductal papillary-mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) was also found in other one case. Our previous study in cases with chronic alcoholim showed that epithelial hyperplasia, which was considered to be PanIN-1A / 1B, was found in 26 out of 55 cases with interlobular fibrosis, and in 2 out of 35 cases with intralobular fibrosis. Hence, chronic pancreatitis cases were thought to be more closely related to PanINs, but low grade PanINs are difficult to relate to pancreatic carcinoma, because PanIN-1A / 1B seems to be found incidentally and frequently in elderly persons. Therefore, chronic pancreatitis, except cases of pancreatolithiasis, could not be elucidated relationship to pancreatic carcinoma. |