A case of small pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor of less than 10 mm showing metastasis to multiple organs.

Authors

Tomoki Ogata, Kazuo Hara, Nozomi Okuno, Nobumasa Mizuno, Shin Haba, Takamichi Kuwahara, Hiroki Koda, Shimpei Matsumoto, Keigo Oshiro, Waki Hosoda

Published in

Clinical journal of gastroenterology. Jun 28, 2026. Epub Jun 28, 2026.

Abstract

Small non-functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) measuring under 10 mm are considered eligible for observation and follow-up, although a minority of small NETs may exhibit show an aggressive behavior. We report a case of small G2-NET that was surgically removed and later developed metastatic recurrence in multiple organs. The patient, a woman in her sixties with a pancreatic body cyst, had been under follow-up for more than a decade. Several years later, a hypoechoic area appeared in the pancreatic body. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) was performed twice; however, a definitive diagnosis was not obtained. Subsequent EUS revealed extension of the lesion into the main pancreatic duct, which was diagnosed as a pancreatic body tumor with intraductal extension. Distal pancreatectomy was performed, and histology revealed a small G2-NET, measuring 8 × 7 mm in diameter. Multiple metastatic tumors were detected 4.5 years after surgery, and the patient is currently undergoing treatment with everolimus and lanreotide. This case supports the viewpoint that small G2-NETs, even those measuring less than 10 mm, may have a risk of metastasis, highlighting the need for careful follow-up and appropriate therapeutic interventions.

PMID:
42365543
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 28 Jun 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.