Relationship between desmoplastic pattern and lymphocytes infiltration in pancreatic cancer.

317Background: The proposed histologic desmoplastic reaction (DR) categorization and lymphocyte infiltration (LI) directly reflects tumor behavior in a modulating stromal environment and could provide valuable prognostic information for colorectal cancer patients, but the prognostic role of DR and LI has not been investigated in pancreatic cancer patients. Methods: A total of 87 pancreatic cancer patients who underwent potentially curative surgery for their tumors in our hospital (2008 to 2013) were included. DR was classified as mature, intermediate, or immature on the basis of the existence of keloid-like collagen and myxoid stroma-distinctive histologic products of extracellular matrix remodeling. LI was classified as Pattern I; circumferential lymphocytes zone without disruptions around tumor, Pattern II; lymphocytes zone with partial disruptions and thinning around tumor, Pattern III; focal lymphocytes foci around tumor at most invasive border without lymphocyte zone, and Pattern IV; no lymphocyte fo...