Objective: To review our experience in the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cystic neoplasms (PCN).
Methods: The clinicopathological data of PCN were retrospectively analyzed and the relevant medical literatures reviewed.
Results: A total of 139 cases were treated at our hospital. There were serous cystic neoplasm (n = 38, SCN), mucinous cystic neoplasm (n = 32, MCN), intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (n = 9, IPMN) and solid pseudopapillary neoplasms (n = 60, SPN). The male-to-female ratio was 1: 3.63. The average age of disease onset was 46.1 years old. And 46.3% of them had no symptom at diagnosis. Among symptomatic ones, there were stomach ache (43.4%), location in body and tail of pancreas (58.2%) and solitary (99.5%). The accuracy of ultrasound type B, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were above 80%. The 5-year survival rate of benign PCNs was 100%. The 1, 3, 5-year survival rates of resected malignant PCNs were 70.2%, 47.9% and 39.5% respectively. However, the 5-year survival rate of those undergoing palliative surgery was only 16.7%.
Conclusions: PCNs are more common in females. And the most common clinical presentation is stomach ache. Most PCNs are solitary tumors located in body and tail of pancreas and may be detected by imaging examinations. The prognosis is excellent for benign PCNs and malignant ones undergoing radical resection. However, the prognosis of those undergoing palliative surgery remains poor.