CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Gastric and Esophageal Cancers
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1652925
This article is part of the Research TopicReal-World Clinical and Translational Research in Gastrointestinal CancersView all 12 articles
Pancreatic Hepatoid Adenocarcinoma with Neuroendocrine Differentiation and Elevated AFP: A Case Report
Provisionally accepted
- Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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Background: Hepatoid adenocarcinoma (HAC) of the pancreas is a rare malignant tumor characterized by morphologic and immunophenotypic features resembling hepatocellular carcinoma.The tumor cells exhibit polygonal morphology with eosinophilic or clear cytoplasm and large, irregular nuclei. Immunophenotypically, the tumor cells are positive for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and glypican-3. Pancreatic HAC is rare, and neuroendocrine differentiation often complicates both diagnosis and treatment. Case description: We report a case of pancreatic HAC with neuroendocrine differentiation and elevated AFP levels. A 46-year-old man was hospitalized due to progressive jaundice and dark urine that persisted for a week. Physical examination revealed bile duct dilation, a pancreatic head mass, and markedly increased AFP levels. The patient, with a history of schizophrenia and lung cancer surgery 2 years prior, was on regular medication. Following a pancreaticoduodenectomy, postoperative monitoring indicated normalization of AFP levels.Elevated serum AFP levels may be a crucial indicator for preoperative pancreatic HAC diagnosis. Additionally, pancreatic HAC has unique histological and immunophenotypic characteristics. However, neuroendocrine differentiation complicates diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, complete surgical resection is the optimal treatment option for this condition.
Keywords: Hepatocellular adenocarcinoma, Pancreatic Cancer, neuroendocrine differentiation, Alpha-Fetoprotein, rare tumors, surgical resection
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Li and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhouliang Yang, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
Xiaowei Zhang, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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