[ Summary ] |
Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas (IPMN) manifests a dilated duct filled with mucin. Neoplastic cells line the dilated duct and show complex papillary architecture. According to dysplastic grade and invasive nature, the neoplasms are classified into IPMN with lowgrade dysplasia, IPMN with high-grade dysplasia, and IPMN with an associated invasive carcinoma. The neoplasms are also classified by the morphological architecture of neoplastic papillae into gastric type, intestinal type, pancreatobiliary type, and oncocytic type. The dysplastic grade and morphological type are well associated with clinicopathological features of IPMN including patients' prognosis. Mutations in GNAS and RNF43 have been identified as specific molecular alterations in IPMN. The notion of molecular alterations may pave the way to develop new molecular medications in IPMN. |