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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 21, 2016; 22(11): 3105-3116
Published online Mar 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i11.3105
Multidisciplinary management of nonfunctional neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas
Ian W Folkert, Paul Hernandez, Robert E Roses
Ian W Folkert, Paul Hernandez, Robert E Roses, Department of Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States
Author contributions: Folkert IW and Hernandez P reviewed the pertinent literature and wrote the paper; Folkert IW was responsible for drafting and revising the paper; Roses RE provided the conceptual design and was responsible for the majority of the critical revision and editing of the final paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Robert E Roses, MD, Department of Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States. robert.roses@uphs.upenn.edu
Telephone: +1-215-6622068 Fax: +1-215-6150555
Received: November 3, 2015
Peer-review started: November 4, 2015
First decision: November 27, 2015
Revised: January 5, 2016
Accepted: January 9, 2016
Article in press: January 9, 2016
Published online: March 21, 2016
Processing time: 131 Days and 21.6 Hours
Abstract

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are a rare and diverse group of tumors; nonfunctional (NF) PNETs account for the majority of cases. Most patients with NF-PNETs have metastatic disease at the time of presentation. A variety of treatment modalities exist, including medical, liver directed, and surgical treatments. Aggressive surgical management is associated with prolonged survival, however available data are limited by selection bias and the frequent combination of PNETs with carcinoid tumors. Although few patients with metastatic disease will be cured, application of currently available therapies in a multidisciplinary setting can lead to excellent outcomes with prolonged patient survival.

Keywords: Neuroendocrine tumor; Pancreas; Nonfunctional; Multidisciplinary; Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor

Core tip: Treatment options for patients with neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas have increased in recent years. Surgical management remains an important component of treatment and is associated with prolonged survival, however high level data supporting specific treatment approaches are limited. Although few patients with metastatic disease will be cured, application of available therapies in a multidisciplinary setting can lead to excellent outcomes with prolonged patient survival.