Indeterminate dendritic cell tumor in the pancreas

Rosita Sortino; Michael Schmid; Yassir El Baz; Antonia Loosen; Ignazio Tarantino; Thomas Steffen; Bruno M Schmied; Fariba Abbassi

doi:10.1093/jscr/rjaa208

Indeterminate dendritic cell tumor in the pancreas

J Surg Case Rep. 2020 Jul 16;2020(7):rjaa208. doi: 10.1093/jscr/rjaa208. eCollection 2020 Jul.

Authors

Rosita Sortino¹, Michael Schmid², Yassir El Baz³, Antonia Loosen¹, Ignazio Tarantino¹, Thomas Steffen¹, Bruno M Schmied¹, Fariba Abbassi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of General, Visceral, Endocrine and Transplantation Surgery, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
² Department of Pathology, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
³ Department of Radiology, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Abstract

Indeterminate dendritic cell tumor (IDCT) is an extremely rare hematologic neoplastic disorder with proliferation of indeterminate dendritic cells. In the vast majority of cases, IDCTs are restricted to the skin or lymph nodes. To our knowledge, we report the first case of IDCT in the pancreas. Due to the rarity of extracutaneous IDCT, guidelines or treatment recommendations addressing their management are missing. We performed a review of literature to compare our experience to the management of other extracutaneous IDCT. Histopathological examination confirms the diagnosis of IDCT in electron microscopy and/or immunohistochemistry. Specific features are the lack of Birbeck granules and the nonreaction to Langerin antibodies. Concerning the aftercare of extracutaneous IDCT, we recommend a dermatological examination to rule out an additional cutaneous manifestation as well as annual blood examinations due to the association between IDCT and hematologic malignancies.

Keywords: Birbeck granules; Langerin; dendritic cell tumor; histiocytic pancreatic tumor; indeterminate dendritic cell tumor; pancreatic cancer.

Publication types

Case Reports