Metastatic pancreatic VIPoma: deteriorating clinical course and successful treatment by liver transplantation.

TY - JOUR

T1 - Metastatic pancreatic VIPoma: deteriorating clinical course and successful treatment by liver transplantation.

AU - Hengst, K

AU - Nashan, Björn

AU - Avenhaus, W

AU - Ullerich, H

AU - Schlitt, H J

AU - Flemming, P

AU - Pichlmayr, R

AU - Domschke, W

PY - 1998

Y1 - 1998

N2 - Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are slowly growing and metastases are often limited to the liver. As a result of their favorable biological behavior these tumors have a relatively good prognosis even in metastatic stage. Due to a variety of therapeutic options patients with malignant neuroendocrine tumors may survive for extended periods of time up to ten years. Often a combination of different treatments and also alternation between the different therapeutic regimes is needed. A patient with excessive WDHA-syndrome and severe metabolic disturbances due to a pancreatic VIPoma with metastatic spread into the liver and abundant hormonal secretion is presented. Cytotoxic agents (streptozocin, 5-fluorouracil and adriamycin) were able to alleviate clinical symptoms and to control tumor growth for six years. Analogues of somatostatin (octreotide) and interferon alpha had been very useful in controlling clinical symptoms and tumor progress for 18 months. Cytotoxic agents or octreotide were not able, however, to achieve any permanent cure. Eventually, treatment failure occurred with dramatic progression of symptoms and tumor growth, unresponsive to any medical therapy. Consequently, total hepatectomy and liver transplantation together with extirpation of the pancreatic primary tumor was performed and succeeded in providing a normal life to the patient. In our opinion the overall outcome of patients with metastatic VIPoma may be improved best by maintaining the patients on medical therapy until treatment failure occurs. In case of extended hepatic metastases orthotopic liver transplantation might be considered for patients with symptomatic disease who no longer respond to conventional treatment modalities.

AB - Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are slowly growing and metastases are often limited to the liver. As a result of their favorable biological behavior these tumors have a relatively good prognosis even in metastatic stage. Due to a variety of therapeutic options patients with malignant neuroendocrine tumors may survive for extended periods of time up to ten years. Often a combination of different treatments and also alternation between the different therapeutic regimes is needed. A patient with excessive WDHA-syndrome and severe metabolic disturbances due to a pancreatic VIPoma with metastatic spread into the liver and abundant hormonal secretion is presented. Cytotoxic agents (streptozocin, 5-fluorouracil and adriamycin) were able to alleviate clinical symptoms and to control tumor growth for six years. Analogues of somatostatin (octreotide) and interferon alpha had been very useful in controlling clinical symptoms and tumor progress for 18 months. Cytotoxic agents or octreotide were not able, however, to achieve any permanent cure. Eventually, treatment failure occurred with dramatic progression of symptoms and tumor growth, unresponsive to any medical therapy. Consequently, total hepatectomy and liver transplantation together with extirpation of the pancreatic primary tumor was performed and succeeded in providing a normal life to the patient. In our opinion the overall outcome of patients with metastatic VIPoma may be improved best by maintaining the patients on medical therapy until treatment failure occurs. In case of extended hepatic metastases orthotopic liver transplantation might be considered for patients with symptomatic disease who no longer respond to conventional treatment modalities.

M3 - SCORING: Zeitschriftenaufsatz

VL - 36

SP - 239

EP - 245

JO - Z GASTROENTEROL

JF - Z GASTROENTEROL

SN - 0044-2771

IS - 3

M1 - 3

ER -