Unusual early-stage pancreatic sarcomatoid carcinoma

Figure 1 Hematoxylin and eosin stained sections, immunohistochemical test and ultrasonography diagnosis. A: Histologic findings of the tumor; the morphology of sarcomatoid carcinoma of the pancreas (SCP) is shown (hematoxylin and eosin, × 100); B: Microscopically, the excised tumor tissue comprised cancer cells and mesenchymal cells, with dispersion of atypical cells and obvious karyokinesis (hematoxylin and eosin, × 200); C: Widely diffuse immunohistochemical staining for the epithelial marker cytokeratin 18 (× 100); D: Heterogeneous immunohistochemical staining for the epithelial marker pan-cytokeratin (Pan-CK) (× 100); E: Widely diffuse immunohistochemical staining for the mesenchymal marker vimentin (× 100); F: Ultrasonography revealed a 93 mm × 94 mm × 75 mm mass of mixed echogenicity in the tail of the pancreas.

Figure 2 Mechanism of transforming growth factorβ1 regulating the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of sarcomatoid carcinoma of the pancreas. TGF: Transforming growth factor; EMT: Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition; IL-11: Interleukin-11.