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7 slides generated from the cancer page, with a quiz from the open benchmark and speaker notes that cite the sources. Arrow keys move between slides; Print gives one slide per page.
Adenosquamous carcinoma is a rare form of pancreatic cancer in which at least three tenths of the tumour has turned into squamous cells, the flat cells of skin-like linings. It is found more often in the body and tail, tends to be larger and poorly differentiated, and does worse after surgery than ordinary pancreatic cancer, though surgery remains the strongest predictor of survival.
What it is. The 2019 WHO classification of digestive tumours lists adenosquamous carcinoma as a variant of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in which a squamous component makes up at least 30 percent of the tumour (Nagtegaal 2020); pure squamous cell carcinoma of the pancreas is exceptional and most such tumours prove to be adenosquamous on wider sampling.
How it differs from its parent. In 415 SEER patients (1988 to 2007) compared with 45,693 with adenocarcinoma, adenosquamous tumours were more often in the body and tail, more often poorly differentiated, larger and node positive, and long-term survival after resection was significantly worse, although resection was still the strongest predictor of survival (Boyd 2012). In the National Cancer Database (2004 to 2012), 1,745 adenosquamous carcinomas (1 percent of 207,073 pancreatic cancers) were larger and more often in the body or tail (36 against 24 percent); survival was similar to adenocarcinoma when operated and unoperated patients were pooled, but worse among resected stage I and II patients (Hester 2018).
| Setting | Approach | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Resectable | Pancreatoduodenectomy or distal pancreatectomy with adjuvant chemotherapy as for ductal adenocarcinoma; surgery is the strongest predictor of survival in the population series. | not mapped |
| Advanced | Chemotherapy as for metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; no histology-specific trial exists. | not mapped |