Hyperplasia of pancreatic islets associated with extrapancreatic lymphoma and sarcoma

Abstract A preliminary study revealed pancreatic hyperplasia to be present in 29 per cent of 100 consecutive necropsies. Malignant neoplasms coexisted with hyperplasia of islets in 14 (48.3 per cent) of the 29 cases. On the basis of the results of this study, the islets of Langerhans in microscopic sections of pancreas from 20 cases of accidental death (normal controls), 10 cases of extrapancreatic lymphoma, and 12 cases of extrapancreatic sarcoma were quantitatively studied. Significant hyperplasia of the islets was present in both categories of neoplastic disease when compared with the islets in the control group. The assessment of hyperplasia of pancreatic islets was neither difficult nor complex when the observer assigned the proper significance to the presence of an increased percentage of large islets. The method for determining hyperplasia of islets and the significance of its presence are discussed.