Surgery of pancreas tumors in pediatric and adolescent patients: a single institution experience in South America

Purpose Pancreas tumors are extremely rare in pediatric and adolescent patients. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment; however, the data are limited with respect to morbidity and mortality. We aimed to evaluate short- and long-term outcomes of pediatric and adolescent patients who underwent surgical resection of pancreatic tumors. Methods Patients ≤ 18-year-olds who underwent resection of pancreas tumor at the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases INEN during 2000–2020 were included. Results Thirty-four patients were diagnosed; 28 patients were female and 6 were male. The median age was 13.4-years-old. Histological diagnosis was solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) ( n = 29, 85.3%), pancreatoblastoma ( n = 3), neuroendocrine carcinoma ( n = 1), and insulinoma ( n = 1). No patient experienced postoperative mortality and 15 (44.1%) patients developed postoperative complications including pancreatic fistula as the most frequent. Under a median follow-up period of 33.8 (0.5–138) months, four (11.8%) patients died. Of the 29 patients with SPN, the 3- and-5-year OS rates were 100% and 83.1%, respectively. Conclusions SPN was the most frequent cause of surgical treatment for pediatric and adolescent patients in the high-volume cancer center in Peru and was associated with favorable survival. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was safely performed in this patient group with acceptable morbidity and zero mortality.