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Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the pancreas (SCP) is a rare and aggressive subtype of undifferentiated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, with a generally poor prognosis and only sporadic cases reported worldwide. Histologically, the most notable feature of SCP is the presence of abundant of mesenchymatoid spindle tumor cells in the tumor, which lack glandular differentiation. Immunohistochemically, SCP is characterized by the expression of both mesenchymal and epithelial markers. With only a few reported cases, there is limited knowledge about its molecular and clinicopathological characteristics. Therefore, the present study performed a literature search to identify all relevant published studies. The present review provides an overview of the histogenesis, diagnosis, genetic features, prognosis and treatment of SCP, specifically focusing on the molecular alterations. Furthermore, a single-center experience is reported, which adds to the limited evidence available in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the value and safety of the surgery with vascular resection and reconstruction during pancreatectomy for pancreatic cancer., Methods: The clinical data of 206 patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent radical resection were retrospectively analyzed from January 2009 to March 2014 in Lihuili Hospital, Medical center of Ningbo.All cases were divided into non-vascular resection group(132 cases), the combined vein resection group(66 cases) and the combined arterial resection group(8 cases). The peri-operation data, the incidence of postoperative complications and the survival were compared in pairs among three groups.All patients were followed up till September 2014., Results: There were no statistical differences for the preoperative data among three groups.The operation time and the blood loss (M(QR)) were (347±96)minutes and (500(400)) ml in non-vascular resection group, (425±91)minutes and (800(500))ml in combined vein resection group, (508±120)minutes and (1 750(2 075))ml in combined arterial resection group, with significant differences among three groups(all P<0.01). The incidence of postoperative complication was 16.7%(22/132) in non-vascular resection group, 28.8%(19/66) in combined vein resection group, and 6 cases in combined arterial resection group, respectively.There were significant differences between non-vascular resection group and combined vein resection group(P<0.05), non-vascular resection group and combined arterial resection group(P<0.05), as well as between combined vein resection group and combined arterial resection group(P<0.05). The median survival time was 15 months for non-vascular resection group, 15 months for combined vein resection group, and 12 months for combined arterial resection group.No significant difference was found among three groups(all P>0.05). The postoperative mortality was nil for all of groups., Conclusions: Compared with non-vascular resection, combined vein resection can be performed safely with a similar prognosis. The surgery of combined arterial resection could only be justified when R0 resection for pancreatic cancer could be achieved for highly selected patients.