Pancreatic Cancer and Its Precursor Lesions
Pancreatic cancer is a maLignant epitheLial neoplasm of the pancreas. Depending on the direction of differentiation, pancreatic cancer is classified into pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) with ductal differentiation, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with neuroendocrine differentiation, acinar cell carcinoma with acinar cell differentiation, mixed carcinoma with multiple directions of differentiation, and soLid pseudopapillary neoplasm with uncertain direction of differentiation. PDAC is the most common maLignancy of the pancreas, which has three identified precursor lesions: pancreatic intraepitheLial neoplasia, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm, and mucinous cystic neoplasm. This article focuses on PDAC and its three precursors.
