Undifferentiated Pancreatic Carcinoma With Osteoclast-Like Giant Cells: What Do We Know So Far?

Abstract

Undifferentiated carcinoma of the pancreas is an aggressive but rare tumor for which several other terms have been used to describe its histological appearance. In addition, as osteoclast-like giant cells may accompany undifferentiated carcinoma of the pancreas, the WHO Classification distinguishes undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells (UC-OGC) from plain undifferentiated carcinoma since there are a few histopathological and clinical differences. UC-OGC was initially thought to be associated with worse prognosis compared to invasive ductal pancreatic adenocarcinoma, since it is often unresectable at diagnosis and tends to recur rapidly even if completely resected. When true UC-OGGs are carefully dissected out from other anaplastic carcinomas, it becomes, however, clear that UC-OGCs do have more indolent behavior, especially the pure UC-OGCs. This mini-review summarizes the current knowledge on UC-OGC.