From:
Lisa Shortley
Date: 2001-04-12 06:30:00 UTC
Subject: Re: islet cell carcinoma - histopathology report posted #2
Hello - Since you were offline and I haven't yet heard your input on
this, I figured, I'd repost it and hope for the best! Thanks!
>
> Hi Drs Murray and Williams,
> Here is the verbatum copy of Sterling's histopatholgy report. I
> sincerely look forward to your take on this and your feelings as to
> what this means. Thank you so much for your input in this matter
> thus far. It is so nice to be able to hear others' opinions on
> this. While I know that regardless of what the pathology says, it
is
> Sterling that is going to make that ultimate decision as to how
well he is going to do - it is so nice to have a basic idea as to
what to expect. FYI, he's recovering pretty well from his surgery.
We took his stitches out over the weekend and then Monday, he started
acting strange and was wobbly. I treated him as if it were an
episode. I took him to the vet's Tues and after a 3 hour fast, his
glucose was a 54. So he's back on pred again.
Anyway, here it all is:
>
> BIOPSY
> Microscopic Description:
> The specimen consists of a section of pancreas and a lymph node.
The
> architecture of the pancreas has been disrupted by a neoplasm
> composed of moderately homogeneous epithelial cells arranged in
nests
> partially separated by thin incomplete fibrovascular septa. The
> cells are characterized by round to oval open nuclei, one
nucleolus,
> and scant to moderate eosinophilic slightly granular to vacuolated
> cytoplasm. The mitotic rate is 1-5 per high power field.
Neoplastic
> cells extend into the adjacent fat and exocrine pancreatic tissue.
>
> The architecture of the lymph node has been partially effaced by
> metastatic neoplastic epithelial cells identical to those seen in
the
> pancreas. A thin rim of normal lympphoid tissue is present around
> the neoplastic infiltrates.
>
> Pathological Diagnosis:
> 1. Islet cell carcinoma, pancreas.
> 2. Metastatic islet cell carcinoma, pancreatic lymph node.
>
> Comment:
> Median survival time of ferrets with pancreatic islet cell
neoplasia
> is reported as 16 months (483 days) and 10.3-17.5 months in two
> separate articles. median disease free interval (DFI) is reported
as
> 8 months (240 days) and 10.6 months respectively. However, with
the
> pressence of an islet cell carcinoma which has metastasized to a
> lymph node, the median survival time may be significantly less.
> Ref: JAVMA 209: 1737 and 1741-1745, 1996. Neoplastic cells extend
> focally to the margins of the pancreatic biopsy. The lymph node
> appears adequately excised.
>
> SO, there it all is...I really look forward to hearing what you
> think. It sounds as though, even though you both said it is rare,
> this is what has occured with my Sterling. Please advise and help
> translate some of the more technical parts and I'm really hoping
that you'll tell me that I'm overreacting (but I understand if you
can't tell me that!).
> Thanks so much,
> Lisa Shortley