Clinicopathological features of pancreatic endocrine tumors: a prospective multicenter study in Italy of 297 sporadic cases.
OBJECTIVE
Information on pancreatic endocrine tumors (PETs) comes mostly from small, retrospective, uncontrolled studies conducted on highly selected patients. The aim of the study was to describe the clinical and pathological features of PETs in a prospective, multicenter study.


METHODS
Newly diagnosed, histologically proven, sporadic PETs observed from June 2004 to March 2007 in 24 Italian centers were included in a specific data set.


RESULTS
Two hundred ninety-seven patients (mean age 58.6+/-14.7 years, females 51.2%, males 48.8%) were analyzed. In 73 cases (24.6%), the tumor was functioning (F) (53 insulinomas, 15 gastrinomas, 5 other syndromes) and in 232 (75.4%) it was non-functioning (NF); in 115 cases (38.7%), the diagnosis was incidental. The median tumor size was 20 mm (range 2-150). NF-PETs were significantly more represented among carcinomas (P<0.001). Nodal and liver metastases were detected in 84 (28.3%) and 85 (28.6%) cases, respectively. The presence of liver metastases was significantly higher in the NF-PETs than in the F-PETs (32.1% vs. 17.8%; P<0.05), and in the symptomatic than in the asymptomatic patients (34.6% vs. 19.1%; P<0.005). At the time of recruitment, the majority of patients (251, 84.5%) had undergone surgery, with complete resection in 209 cases (83.3%).


CONCLUSIONS
This study points out the high number of new cases of PETs observed in Italy, with a high prevalence of NF and incidentally discovered forms. The size of the tumor was smaller and the rate of metastasis was lower than usually reported, suggesting a trend toward an earlier diagnosis.
Zerbi
Alessandro
A
Department of Surgery, Pancreas Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy. zerbi.alessandro@hsr.it
Falconi
Massimo
M
Rindi
Guido
G
Delle Fave
Gianfranco
G
Tomassetti
Paola
P
Pasquali
Claudio
C
Capitanio
Vanessa
V
Boninsegna
Letizia
L
Di Carlo
Valerio
V
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018273:Carcinoma, Islet Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007340:Insulinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies