Neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas with rhabdoid feature

Imaging of a 53-year-old Japanese man revealed two tumors in the liver and a tumor in the head of the pancreas with a swelling lymph node. A needle biopsy for the liver tumors was performed, revealing a neuroendocrine tumor. Enucleation, lymphadenectomy, and partial hepatectomy were performed. The microscopic examination identified many tumor cells with intracytoplasmic inclusions arranged in a nested, cord, or tubular fashion. The intracytoplasmic inclusions displayed densely eosinophilic globules and displaced the nuclei toward the periphery, which constitutes “rhabdoid” features. The tumor cells were positive for synaptophysin and weakly positive for NCAM, but negative for chromogranin A. Epithelial markers (AE1/AE3 and CAM5.2) accentuated intracytoplasmic globules. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors with rhabdoid features are very rare. Generally, rhabdoid features are aggressive and dedifferentiated characteristics of various types of tumor. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors containing rhabdoid cells tend to display extrapancreatic spread at the time of presentation, although some of these tumors with rhabdoid features are not always associated with aggressive behavior.