Atypical and neoplastic acinar cell lesions of the pancreas in an autopsy study of Japanese patients.

A histopathologic examination of the pancreas was performed on a series of adult Japanese autopsies. In ten of 162 pancreases (6%) with adequate tissue available, two types of focal atypical acinar cell lesions, composed of acidophilic or basophilic cells, were found. Acidophilic atypical acinar cell lesions were more frequent than basophilic ones, although the one case of acinar cell adenoma and two cases of acinar cell carcinomas showed high incidences of basophilic atypical acinar cell lesions. The findings are concluded to support the possibility that atypical acinar cell lesions are precursors for acinar cell carcinomas.