Not All Pancreatic Masses are Cancer: Pancreatic Tuberculosis Masquerading as Malignancy.

Authors

Ronald Blanco Montecino, Alvaro Cadillo Arbaiza, James Cutrell, Puneet Bajaj, Patricio Polanco, Anna Tavakkoli

Published in

ACG case reports journal. Volume 13. Issue 9. Pages e02300. Epub Sep 15, 2026.

Abstract

Pancreatic tuberculosis (TB) is a rare extrapulmonary manifestation that can mimic pancreatic cancer. We report a 61-year-old man presenting with epigastric discomfort, weight loss, elevated liver enzymes, elevated carbohydrate antigen 19-9, and a pancreatic mass causing biliary obstruction. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsies revealed granulomatous inflammation and necrosis. Autoimmune and fungal etiologies were excluded, and acid-fast stains were negative. Definitive diagnosis was achieved through 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing followed by detection of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis hsp65 gene. This case highlights the diagnostic challenge of pancreatic TB and the importance of reconsidering the differential diagnosis when histopathological findings do not align with clinical suspicion.

PMID:
42741785
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.