AI Article Synopsis

  • Undifferentiated carcinoma (UC) of the pancreas is a rare and aggressive type of pancreatic cancer with a median survival of less than one year, although cases with osteoclast-like giant cells (UCOGCs) may have better outcomes.
  • The World Health Organization classifies UC into three subtypes (anaplastic, sarcomatoid, and carcinosarcoma) and distinguishes UCOGCs based on their unique histological features.
  • Currently, surgical resection is the only curative treatment, but promising results from paclitaxel-based chemotherapy and anti-programmed death-ligand 1 therapies highlight potential avenues for improving UC treatment options.

Article Abstract

Undifferentiated carcinoma (UC) of the pancreas is a rare subtype of pancreatic cancer displaying no definitive direction of differentiation. UC has been reported as a highly aggressive malignant neoplasm, with a median overall survival of <1 year, except for several surgical series. On the other hand, UC tissue sometimes contains non-neoplastic osteoclast-like giant cells (OGCs), and such cases have been reported to have relatively longer survival. Thus, the World Health Organization (WHO) classification histologically distinguishes UC with OGCs (UCOGCs) from UC, and UCs were subclassified into three subtypes: anaplastic UC, sarcomatoid UC and carcinosarcoma. However, still less is known about UC due to its rarity, and such situations lead to further difficulties in treatment for UC. To date, only surgical resection can offer curative treatment for patients with UC, and no clear evidence for chemotherapy exists for them. However, a retrospective cohort study and case reports showed that relatively promising results paclitaxel-containing regimens for treatment of patients with unresectable UC. Furthermore, high programmed cell death protein 1 expression has been reported in sarcomatoid UCs and UCOGCs, and promising responses to anti-programmed death-ligand 1 therapy have been described in case reports of UCOGCs. Recent advances in chemotherapeutic agents and molecular technologies are opening up the possibilities for expanded treatments.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10473279PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jjco/hyad062DOI Listing

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