Clinical characteristics, surgical strategies, and outcome of solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas: retrospective analysis in a single center

INTRODUCTION: Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas (SPTP) is a rarely diagnosed, low-malignancy pancreatic neoplasm, which mostly can be cured by surgery. AIM: To investigate the surgical effect and prognosis of SPTP. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data of 39 patients diagnosed with SPTP and treated with surgery between 2013 and 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. The data included the clinical characteristics, surgical management, pathological findings and therapeutic outcome. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 34.0 ±12.1 years, and the female : male ratio was 32 : 7. Most of the patients were asymptomatic (48.7%). The mean diameter of the tumors was 4.81 ±2.36 cm. Operative procedures were conducted according to the location and size of the tumors. Laparoscopic surgery, especially laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP), provided a smaller incision, a shorter postoperative hospital stay and a shorter postoperative fasting time. There was no observed difference in the amount of blood loss or complication rate. The median follow-up was 24 months. One patient with 20% expression of Ki-67 developed liver metastasis after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: SPTP is a rare disease with low malignancy. Minimally invasive surgery, especially LDP, has been proven to be a feasible and safe treatment method for SPTP with early recovery. The prognosis of SPTP is favorable. Lifetime surveillance is necessary especially in patients with a high expression rate of Ki-67.