Usefulness of intratumoral perfusion analysis for assessing biological features of non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm

Purpose Here, we evaluated the usefulness of intratumoral perfusion analysis using preoperative contrast-enhanced CT (E-CT) to assess biological features of non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (NF-PanNENs). Methods We retrospectively studied 44 patients who underwent curative surgery for NF-PanNENs. We used preoperative E-CT with compartment model analysis to calculate the tumor perfusion parameters K1 (inflow rate constant), 1/k2 (mean transit time), and K1/k2 (distribution volume). We assessed the association between perfusion parameters and biological features of NF-PanNENs, including the WHO classification tumor histopathological grade and prognosis after surgery. Results Patients in this study had a neuroendocrine tumor (NET) G1 ( n = 32) or NET G2 ( n = 12). Neither NET G3 or NEC tumors were observed. Among perfusion parameters, K1 was the most accurate predictor of the high-grade tumor (AUC: 0.726). K1-low (< 0.028 s −1 ) was significantly associated with large tumors (≥ 20 mm) ( p = 0.022), high mitotic index ( p = 0.017), high Ki-67 index ( p = 0.004), and lymphatic invasion ( p = 0.025). Synchronous extra-pancreatic metastasis, including lymph node metastasis or liver metastasis, more frequently developed in K1-low patients than in K1-high patients (29% vs 4%, p = 0.025). Disease-free survival of patients with a K1-low tumor was poorer than that of patients with a K1-high tumor ( p = 0.005). Furthermore, no patient with a K1-high tumor developed recurrence after initial surgery. Conclusion The perfusion parameters obtained using E-CT were significantly associated with biological features and prognosis of NF-PanNENs.