Benign oncocytic endocrine tumor of the pancreas in a patient with polyarteritis nodosa

John Gotchall, S. Thomas Traweek, Peter Stenzel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

An 8-cm mass in the tail of the pancreas was resected from a 40-year-old man with polyarteritis nodosa. The tumor cells contained abundant, finely granular, eosinophilic cytoplasm arranged in a gyriform pattern that suggested the tumor was an oncocytoma of the endocrine pancreas. Electron microscopy confirmed that the tumor was an oncocytoma by demonstrating tumor cell cytoplasm packed with mitochondria. Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical studies confirmed the neuroendocrine nature of the tumor by demonstrating dense-core, membrane-bound structures consistent with neurosecretory granules and neuron-specific enolase immunoreactivity. No immunoreactivity for insulin, glucagon, gastrin, somatostatin, or pancreatic polypeptide was found. No human chorionic gonadotropin α-chain immunoreactivity was detected. The patient is well without evidence of tumor five years after operation. The apparently benign behavior of the pancreatic endocrine oncocytoma reported here is in contrast to the malignant nature of another case reported recently.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)967-969
Number of pages3
JournalHuman Pathology
Volume18
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1987

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pathology and Forensic Medicine

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