Surgical Results of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Jang, Jin Young

Abstract

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PNET) is a rare, but attracts clinician's attention due to its clinicopathologically peculiar features compared to conventional pancreatic tumor originated from duct or acina. Surgical resection has been the main treatment tool for PNET. The method of resection must be tailored considering tumor biology and patient's condition. Although most of benign PNET can be cured by enucleation or limited resection, conventional resection should be considered if tumor is located near to main pancreatic duct or suspected as malignant lesions. In contrast to other pancreatic malignancies, surgery has major role to increase the survival by debulking operation or metastatectomy even in advanced stage. Although the surgical indication of liver transplantation must be elucidated, the overall survival after liver transplantation in hepatic metastasis is not superior to other conventional treatment. With development of new diagnosis and therapeutic agents using tumor biology, the aggressive treatment with surgery and medical treatment could improve the survival of patients with PNET.