Research progress of pancreatic head cancer arising from dorsal and ventral pancreas

Pancreas arises from dorsal and ventral anlagens on an embryological basis, with a difference in histocytology. Immunohistochemical staining for an anti-pancreatic polypeptide can be performed to discriminate between the dorsal and ventral pancreas because of the difference in the amount of pancreatic polypeptide contained by the dorsal and ventral pancreas. Differences of survival in patients were approved due to the difference in histocytology between the dorsal and ventral pancreas, including the ability of local invasion, lymph node metastases, and nerve plexus invasion.