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Acinar Cell Carcinoma

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Pathology of the Pancreas

Abstract

Acinar cell carcinoma is a rare malignant epithelial neoplasm composed of cells which morphologically resemble acinar cells and produce pancreatic enzymes. It is totally unrelated to acinar cell nodules or the benign entity acinar cystic transformation (formerly acinar cell cystadenoma), both of which are discussed elsewhere in the book. Acinar cell carcinoma may show a wide range of morphological appearances, ranging from well-differentiated acinar structures to solid sheets of poorly differentiated cells, which can cause diagnostic difficulty. These macroscopic and histological features of acinar cell carcinoma and its variants are discussed. There is also detailed discussion of the differential diagnosis and the morphological features and immunohistochemical profiles (tabulated in Chap. 20) which can be used to distinguish these different diagnostic entities.

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  • La Rosa S, Klimstra DS, Wood LS. Pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma. In: Lokuhetty D, White VA, Watanabe R, Cree IA, editors. Digestive system tumours. WHO classification of tumours. 5th ed. Lyon: IARC Press; 2019. p. 333–6.

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  • Ohike N, Rosa L, Pancreatoblastoma S. In: Lokuhetty D, White VA, Watanabe R, Cree IA, editors. Digestive system tumours. WHO classification of tumours. 5th ed. Lyon: IARC Press; 2019. p. 337–9.

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Correspondence to Fiona Campbell .

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Campbell, F., Verbeke, C.S. (2021). Acinar Cell Carcinoma. In: Pathology of the Pancreas. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49848-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49848-1_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-49847-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-49848-1

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