Progressive Malignant Degeneration of a Cystadenoma of the Pancreas

It would appear from the surgical literature that benign cystadenoma of the pancreas is a rare lesion. Thus through 1954, according to Zintel et al.,24there were only 58 such cases reported. In the same year Trapnell21also reported a case and stated that he could discover only 2 cases reported as occurring in England and only 1 in Ireland. He also cited case reports by Haukohl and Melamed9and one by Tagariello20not included in previous reviews. In 1956, Glenner and Mallory7presented a comprehensive study of tumors of the pancreas including cystadenoma, but gave no additional information as to its frequency. According to Kennard10malignant degeneration of a benign cystadenoma of the pancreas is rare. The cases reported by Lichenstein,11Maes,12and by Carter and Slattery5indicate that benign cystadenoma of the pancreas may assume malignant characteristics, but this