• 14 year old DSH with vomiting
• Nodular pancreas and pancreatic mass seen on scan (image 2), mass sampled, cytology benign, see cytology report below
• Also sampled another structure (Image 1, smaller, hypoechoic with hyperechoic centre) which I thought was LN distal/caudal to pancreas. Cytology carcinoma but no evidence of LN. On review I am wondering is this smaller mass also an extension of the pancreas? Or what do you think it might be please?

• 14 year old DSH with vomiting
• Nodular pancreas and pancreatic mass seen on scan (image 2), mass sampled, cytology benign, see cytology report below
• Also sampled another structure (Image 1, smaller, hypoechoic with hyperechoic centre) which I thought was LN distal/caudal to pancreas. Cytology carcinoma but no evidence of LN. On review I am wondering is this smaller mass also an extension of the pancreas? Or what do you think it might be please?

Pancreatic mass – nodular hyperplasia of acinar cells.
LN – carcinoma (see comments).
COMMENTS
Aspiration of the pancreas demonstrates a uniform population of unremarkable acinar or tubular pancreatic epithelial cells. In the context of a mass, nodular hyperplasia of acinar cells (pancreatic exocrine nodular hyperplasia) is most likely. This is a common, often incidental, lesion in older cats. Grossly, the lesion may be a solitary nodule or, more commonly, may appear as
multiple, small, well-circumscribed. These lesions are not pre-neoplastic, and patients are generally asymptomatic.
The slide labelled LN demonstrates a population of malignant epithelial cells supporting carcinoma but no lymphoid cells. This is either an aspirate from a carcinoma close to the lymph node or the lymph node architecture is completely effaced by a metastatic carcinoma. There is no support for carcinoma on the aspirates from the pancreatic mass (unless these are not fully representative), and the cells observed on the supposed LN aspirate do not look like pancreatic carcinoma. A differential to consider is intestinal carcinoma.