ARID1A-Deficient and 11q13-Amplified Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Initially Presenting as Retroperitoneal Fibrosis in a Patient with Familial CHEK2 Variant

<b>Background and Clinical Significance</b>: Retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF), a rare fibroinflammatory disorder, is classified into idiopathic (iRPF) and secondary (sRPF) forms, with the latter posing significant diagnostic challenges in routine clinical pathway due to atypical presentations, especially in malignancy-associated (maRPF) cases. <b>Case Presentation</b>: Here, we report a 38-year-old female with congenital pancreatic hypoplasia presenting with elusive hypometabolic retroperitoneal masses, initially suggestive of iRPF. Persistent CA19-9 elevation prompted histopathological evaluation, revealing poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of indeterminate origin. Timely integrated molecular profiling identified maRPF secondary to metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, revealing rare genomic alterations, including a truncating <i>ARID1A</i> mutation NM_006015:c.4336C>T (p. R1446*) and <i>CCND1/FGF3/FGF4/FGF19</i> (11q13) co-amplification, which resolved diagnostic ambiguity and delineated disease biology. Despite identifying these molecular features, poor prognosis was predicted, and no clinically actionable targets were detected, underscoring the need for future therapeutic development. <b>Conclusions</b>: This paradigm highlights molecular profiling as a critical adjunct to conventional diagnostics in maRPF, bridging the gap between histopathological ambiguity and biologically grounded clinical decision-making.

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Journal
Diagnostics
Published
2025-08-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15161998
Primary Topic
IgG4-Related and Inflammatory Diseases
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article
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article

ARID1A-Deficient and 11q13-Amplified Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Initially Presenting as Retroperitoneal Fibrosis in a Patient with Familial CHEK2 Variant

Siming Kong, Ting Luo, Bai Hui, Pengfei Wang et al.
Diagnostics
IgG4-Related and Inflammatory Diseases
article

ARID1A-Deficient and 11q13-Amplified Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Initially Presenting as Retroperitoneal Fibrosis in a Patient with Familial CHEK2 Variant

Siming Kong, Ting Luo, Bai Hui, Pengfei Wang, Xuedong Wang, Yunfang Wang, Yakun Liu, T. Cao, H. Wang
article en

Abstract

<b>Background and Clinical Significance</b>: Retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF), a rare fibroinflammatory disorder, is classified into idiopathic (iRPF) and secondary (sRPF) forms, with the latter posing significant diagnostic challenges in routine clinical pathway due to atypical presentations, especially in malignancy-associated (maRPF) cases. <b>Case Presentation</b>: Here, we report a 38-year-old female with congenital pancreatic hypoplasia presenting with elusive hypometabolic retroperitoneal masses, initially suggestive of iRPF. Persistent CA19-9 elevation prompted histopathological evaluation, revealing poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of indeterminate origin. Timely integrated molecular profiling identified maRPF secondary to metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, revealing rare genomic alterations, including a truncating <i>ARID1A</i> mutation NM_006015:c.4336C>T (p. R1446*) and <i>CCND1/FGF3/FGF4/FGF19</i> (11q13) co-amplification, which resolved diagnostic ambiguity and delineated disease biology. Despite identifying these molecular features, poor prognosis was predicted, and no clinically actionable targets were detected, underscoring the need for future therapeutic development. <b>Conclusions</b>: This paradigm highlights molecular profiling as a critical adjunct to conventional diagnostics in maRPF, bridging the gap between histopathological ambiguity and biologically grounded clinical decision-making.

DiagnosticsVol. 15(16)
Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 68%
IgG4-Related and Inflammatory Diseases
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