Background: Many previous studies have investigated the risk factors for the recurrence of pancreatic solid pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPNs), although a consensus has not yet been reached, despite this effort. We aimed to identify the predictive factors for recurrence in patients with SPNs who underwent complete surgical resection of the tumor.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of pediatric patients with SPNs who underwent surgical resection at a single center between 2001 and 2018.
Results: During the study period, 47 patients with SPNs underwent radical resection of the tumor. The median age of the patients was 14 (8-18) years. R0 resection was confirmed in every case and none of the patients presented with systemic metastasis at the time of diagnosis. The median follow-up period was 53.1 (30.8-150.8) months. Of the 47 patients, only two (4.2%) experienced recurrence. Using comparative analysis, we found that some factors such as a large tumor size, peripancreatic tissue invasion, and capsule invasion did not increase the risk of recurrence of SPNs. Lymph node metastasis was the only significant factor for recurrence in our study (p = 0.043).
Conclusion: During our single center analysis, we found that only lymph node metastasis was a predictive factor for recurrence of SPNs among patients who underwent complete tumor resection. Long-term follow-up is required to determine whether SPNs will recur if lymph node metastasis is observed after surgery. Furthermore, therapeutic benefits of routine lymphadenectomy or sentinel lymph node biopsy should be investigated in future studies to reduce the risk of recurrence in patients with SPNs.
Keywords: lymph node metastasis; pancreas; pediatric; recurrence; solid pseudopapillary neoplasm.