A case of primary ductal adenocarcinoma of the lacrimal gland: histopathological and immunohistochemical study

We encountered primary ductal adenocarcinoma of the lacrimal gland in a 67-year-old Japanese man. To the best of our knowledge, only three cases of primary ductal adenocarcinoma of the lacrimal gland have been reported in the literature. The patient was admitted because of visual disturbance, and a mass measuring about 3 cm in diameter was revealed in the right orbit. The mass was resected, and primary ductal adenocarcinoma of the lacrimal gland was diagnosed histopathologically. He died from recurrence at the primary site and metastasis to the brain, lungs, liver, common bile duct, and pancreas 2 years and 10 months after surgery although adjunctive orbital radiotherapy was given. Immunohistochemically, the characteristics of cancer cells were similar to those of salivary duct carcinoma, namely positivity for cytokeratin (CK) 7, 10, 17, 18, 19, and 34βE12, and negativity for CK20. It was not clear whether the ductal adenocarcinoma originated from the ductal or acinar epithelium of the lacrimal gland, because the immunohistochemical features of both epithelia were identical.