Cancer of the uncinate process of the pancreas: surgical anatomy and clinicopathological features.

BACKGROUND

The clinicopathological features of uncinate process pancreatic cancer (UPPC) are poorly described. Furthermore the anatomy of the uncinate process and its division during surgery are central to pancreaticoduodenectomy for UPPC. We set out to describe the embryology and anatomy of the uncinate process and the clinicopathological features of UPPC.

DATA SOURCES

All published case series of UPPC were reviewed and included in this review.

RESULTS

The true incidence of UPPC is difficult to quantify, with the reported incidence ranging from 2.5% to 10.7% of pancreatic cancer. There are 5 published series of UPPC including 117 patients, 72 males and 45 females, aged from 45-53 years to 61-84 years. The median survival was 5 or 5.5 months in 3 of the series, 12.1 months in another based only on potentially resectable lesions and 17 months in another based only on resected cases.

CONCLUSIONS

The number of reported series of UPPC is limited, with vague symptoms as the predominant presenting features of the disease. The prognosis is poor with synchronous venous resection demonstrating a survival advantage.