Fundamental cellular heterogeneity of the exocrine pancreas.

The exocrine pancreas

This seminar text reviews various forms of enzyme supplementation used clinically in digestive and absorption disorders. Enzyme supplementation plays an integral role in the management of various digestive disorders, particularly with regard to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. However, application of enzymes may also be beneficial for other conditions associated with poor digestion including ...

Exocrine pancreas cancer

Mixed exocrine-endocrine tumors of the pancreas.

Neoplasms of the pancreas usually show either ductal, acinar, or endocrine differentiation. Mixed exocrine-endocrine pancreatic neoplasms, in which the endocrine component is significant and comprises one-third to one-half of the tumor tissue, are rare. Truly mixed tumors have to be distinguished from exocrine neoplasms with scattered endocrine cells. In ductal adenocarcinomas, the scattered en...

Acinar cell neoplasms of the exocrine pancreas.

The pathological features of 12 acinar cell neoplasms of the pancreas are described; these comprise 11 carcinomas, of which seven were pure acinar cell growths and four were mixed acinar and ductal carcinomas, and one adenoma. These tumors occurred in a series of 105 during the period 162-75. Thrombotic endocarditis developed in three out the 11 carcinoma cases. The distinctive histological fea...

Mucinous tumors of the exocrine pancreas.

BACKGROUND Mucin-producing cystic neoplasms of the pancreas account for 1% of all malignant tumors of the pancreas. They include mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCNs) and mucinous ductal ectasia (MDE), also known as intraductal mucin-hypersecreting neoplasms. METHODS This review focuses on the clinical presentation, the role of diagnostic imaging modalities, and cyst fluid analysis preoperatively ...