Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas in a patient with cervical cancer: relation of E-cadherin/β-catenin adhesion complex in their carcinogenesis

Abstract

Solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas is one of the most uncommon histotypes of all exocrine pancreatic neoplasms. Disorganization of E-cadherin and β-catenin mutations, two key components of the Wnt signal transduction pathway, has been implicated in the development of SPT, but not other pancreatic tumors. Loss of E-cadherin/β-catenin proteins and tyrosine phosphorylation of E-cadherin/β-catenin have been postulated in cervical carcinogenesis and cancer invasion. A 38-year-old married woman, who had undergone brachytherapy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy for cervical cancer in Philippines in 2011, was admitted to our hospital after follow-up CT scan of abdomen in 2012 revealed a lesion in the tail of pancreas. The patient underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy. The pathological diagnosis was SPT of pancreas. We suspect that the concurrent SPT pancreas and cervical cancer in this woman were triggered by a primary insult, a process in which E-cadherin/β-catenin/Wnt-signaling pathway played important roles.