Less Aggressive Surgical Procedure for Treatment of Solid Pseudopapillary Tumor: Limited Experience from a Single Institute

Objectives To evaluate the clinical characteristics and radiological features of solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) and assess surgical therapy strategy. Methods A retrospective review was performed in 62 patients pathologically confirmed of SPT treated between 2003 and 2014. The clinical features, radiological examinations and surgical strategies were analyzed. Results 56 females and 6 males were included in this study, mean age was 26 years old (range: 8–66 years old) with mean size of the tumor was 7.2 cm (range: 3–15 cm), and most tumor were commonly located in the head of pancreas (n = 29). Among all the cases, 3 patients had liver metastasis and underwent resection of SPT and liver metastasis. Furthermore, we performed 29 cases of local tumor excision; other patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy, middle pancreatectomy, middle pancreatectomy with splenectomy, distal pancreatectomy with spleen preservation, distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy and duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection. No patient suffered from lymph node metastases. After median follow-up of 46 months (range: 2–135 months), no mortality or local recurrence or distant metastasis was found. Conclusions Solid pseudopapillary tumor is a latent malignant tumor with excellent prognosis. If feasible, less aggressive resection without regular lymphadenectomy is recommended for treatment of patients with SPT.