Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and its precursors

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is the most frequent malignant pancreatic tumor. It is one of the tumors that has a particularly poor prognosis. Its morphological characteristics are: preferential localization in the head of the pancreas, ductal-glandular tumor structures combined with marked desmoplasia and CEA and MUC1 positivity. Variants of this carcinoma include adenosquamous carcinomas, undifferentiated pleomorphic carcinomas and mixed ductal-endocrine tumors. With the definition of ductal lesions as pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia, a progression model for pancreatic ductal carcinoma has been developed and corresponding gene alterations have been detected.