Multifocality is not associated with worse survival in sporadic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVES

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) in patients with hereditary cancer syndromes are typically multifocal. In contrast, sporadic pNETs are usually unifocal and the incidence of multifocal sporadic pNETs is unknown. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of multifocality in sporadic pNETs and any associated effect on recurrence risk and survival.

METHODS

Patients who underwent resection of pNETs at Mayo Clinic from 2000 to 2019 were identified and clinical data were obtained from medical records. Syndromic disease was defined as pNETs arising in the setting of a hereditary cancer syndrome. Statistical comparisons were made using χ2 , Fisher's exact, and Kruskal-Wallis tests and survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

Six hundred and sixty-one patients with sporadic pNETs and fifty-nine with syndromic pNETs were identified. Multifocal disease was present in 4.8% of sporadic patients and 84.7% of syndromic patients (p < .001). Within patients with sporadic pNETs, clinicopathologic features and recurrence-free and overall survival were similar between patients with unifocal and multifocal disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Multifocal sporadic pNETs are rare and multifocality is not associated with worse survival or increased recurrence risk. Patients with multifocal sporadic pNETs can likely be safely managed with a combination of resection and observation as indicated for each tumor.