Mucinous pancreatic ductal ectasia of latent malignancy: an emerging clinicopathologic entity.

The natural history of classic mucinous cystic neoplasms of the pancreas has been previously defined. In this report, an unusual variant of a pancreatic mucinous cystic neoplasm, termed "mucinous pancreatic duct ectasia of latent malignancy," is described. The lesion is characterized by massive dilatation of the main pancreatic duct and its tributaries. Histologically, the ducts are lined by epithelium, which is indistinguishable from the classic mucinous cystic neoplasms. Until the natural history of classic mucinous cystic neoplasm is better documented, resection appears to be the treatment of choice.