Undifferentiated osteoclastic-type giant cell carcinoma.

Initially described 40 years ago (Rosai), the undifferentiated osteoclastic-type giant cell carcinoma (IOGCC) is a variant of ductal adenocarcinoma and accounts for less than 1% of exocrine pancreatic tumors. Its extreme rarity, with consequent existence of few reports and clinical experience, leads to the arousal of doubts with regard to its histogenesis, types of approach and therapeutical attitudes. It is important to note that in Portugal no similar case is registered in medical literature. A 61 year old patient admitted to the Internal Medicine Ward 3 at Coimbra University Hospital presents with a voluminous intra-abdominal mass in the left hypochondrium and microcytic anemia. During the investigation, a pancreatic neoplasm was identified, and the patient was submitted to surgical resection, the anatomo-pathological study of the tumor having revealed IOGCC. The particularities of the case, current available therapeutical options and its evolution are discussed, as well as a revision of the existing literature.