title: Multiple primary malignancies in patients with sporadic pancreatic endocrine tumors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the appearance of multiple primary malignancies in patients with sporadic neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors (NEPTs).
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred forty-five patients with NEPTs were treated at the Department of Surgery, Philipps-University Marburg. Multiple primary malignancies included tumors that were not considered to be a metastasis, invasion, or recurrence of NEPTs. Data on sex, age at diagnosis of cancer, follow-up time after diagnosis, and death rate were collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 115 patients with sporadic NEPTs, 15 (13.0%) patients were identified with at least one malignant tumor, other than a NEPT. The median age at diagnosis of the associated tumor(s) was 57 years (range, 10-72 years). Two of the 15 patients had insulinomas, 5 had gastrinomas and 8 had non-functioning NEPTs, respectively. The risk of developing multiple cancers was the highest for patients with gastrinoma (21.7%), followed by patients with non-functioning NFPTs (20.5%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with NEPTs multiple primary malignancies are found more frequently than in the general population. The etiology of the increased risk of other primaries is not clearly defined, but it may be the result of accumulated growth stimulation by the secreted hormones or a genetic alteration that leads to tumorogenesis in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany. fendrich@med.uni-marburg.de
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fendrich
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waldmann
authors.forename: Detlef K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Bartsch
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schlosser
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rothmund
authors.forename: Berthold
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gerdes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015408:Gastrinoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007340:Insulinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery