Abstract
Cystic tumors of the pancreas are relatively rare and account for about 1% of malignant pancreatic tumors. They represent about 10 - 15% of all cystic structures of the pancreas.
Despite the fact that compared with ductal carcinoma with them in clinical practice we meet less often, their importance is growing due to their more frequent and earlier diagnosis in recent years thanks development of new imaging and diagnostic methods and probably also due to increased attention from gastroenterologists, pancreatologists and surgeons. They are more common than previously thought and are often diagnosed as incidentalomas, without significant clinical manifestations (up to 50%).
The spectrum of cystic lesions of the pancreas is wide and includes a number of morphological ones and histopathological units from inflammatory pseudocysts, benign serous cystadenomas to malignant cystic tumors. Differential diagnosis of cystic lesions is often difficult.
Due to the possible malignant variant and due to the relatively good prognosis after radical surgical treatment, two forms of mucinous cystic disease are in the forefront of clinical interest neoplasia: mucinous cystic tumor and intraductal papillary mucinous pancreatic tumor.