Ductal Adenocarcinoma or Islet-Cell Tumor?

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To the Editor: The article entitled "Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome Associated with Ductal Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas"1 warrants comment. The authors clearly present a gastrinoma, or an islet-cell tumor of the pancreas with gastrin production, and not ductal adenocarcinoma. It must be emphasized that the presence of an occasional glandular lumen, even with mucin within it, does not define a pancreatic tumor as ductal adenocarcinoma. In their study of pancreatic islet-cell tumors, Greider, Rosai and McGuigan found glands in 13 of their 39 ulcerogenic and diarrheogenic tumors.2 Glands and mucin production are also well known features of the closely related carcinoid tumor, . . .