Abstract
Glucagonoma is an uncommon disease, a neuroendocrine tumour that develops from glucagon-producing pancreatic cells. They are usually slow-growing, but generally advanced at diagnosis, and metastatic disease is virtually incurable. Liver is the most common site of metastatic disease. We present the case of a 48-year-old man with a glucagonoma being diagnosed from a pulmonary mass. This case had no liver affection in the whole evolution of the disease, and showed a particularly aggressive course, with very little response to all therapies administered, and a survival from diagnosis of just 16 months.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Moldow RE, Connolly RR (1968) Epidemiology of pancreatic cancer in Connecticut. Gastroenterology 55:677–686
O’Grady HL, Conlon KC (2008) Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Eur J Surg Oncol 34:324–332
Chandrasekharappa SC, Guru SC, Manickam P et al (1997) Positional cloning of the gene for multiple endocrine neoplasia-type 1. Science 276:404–407
Brizi MG, Natale L, Manfredi R et al (2001) High resolution spiral computed tomography of the pancreas. Rays 26:111–115
Dromain C, de Baere T, Lumbroso J et al (2005) De tection of liver metastases from endocrine tumors: a prospective comparison of somatostatin re ceptor scintigraphy, computed tomography and mag netic resonance imaging. J Clin Oncol 23:70–78
McLean AM, Fairclough PD (2005) Endoscopic ultrasound in the localization of pancreatic islet cell tumors. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 19:177–193
Frilling A, Malago M, Martin H, Broelsch CE (1998) Use of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy to image extrahepatic metastases of neuroendocrine tumors. Surgery 124:1000–1004
Wermers RA, Fatourechi V, Wynne AG et al (1997) The glucagonoma syndrome. Clinical and pathologic features in 21 patients. Medicine (Baltimore) 75:53–63
Warner R (2005) Enteroendocrine tumors other than carcinoid: a review of clinically significant advances. Gastroenterology 128:1668–1684
Touzios JG, Kiely JM, Pitt SC et al (2005) Neuroendocrine hepatic metastases: does aggressive management improve survival? Ann Surg 241:776–783
Schurr PG, Strate T, Rese K et al (2007) Aggressive surgery improves long-term survival in neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors: an institutional experience. Ann Surg 245:273–281
Florman S, Toure B, Kim L et al (2004) Liver transplantation for neuroendocrine tumors. J Gastrointest Surg 8:208–212
Gupta S, Yao JC, Ahrar K et al (2003) Hepatic artery embolization and chemoembolization for treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoid tumors: the M.D. Anderson experience. Cancer J 9:261–267
Berber E, Flesher N, Siperstein AE (2002) Laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation of neuroendrocrine liver metastases. World J Surg 26:985–990
Aparicio T, Ducreux M, Baudin E et al (2001) Antitumor activity of somatostatin analogues in pro gressive metastatic neuroendocrine tumors. Eur J Cancer 37:1014–1019
Bukowski RM, Tangen CM, Peterson RF et al (1994) Phase II trial of dimethyltriazenoimidazole carboxamide in patients with metastatic carcinoid. A Southwest Oncology Group study. Cancer 73:1505–1508
Kouvaraki MA, Ajani JA, Hoff P et al (2004) Fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and streptozocin in the treatment of patients with locally advanced and metastatic pancreatic endocrine carcinomas. J Clin Oncol 22:4762–4771
Kulke MH, Stuart K, Enzinger PC et al (2006) Phase II study of temozolomide and thalidomide in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumors. J Clin Oncol 24:401–406
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pinto Marín, Á., Hernández Agudo, E., Feliú, J. et al. Pancreatic glucagonoma presenting as a pulmonary mass. Clin Transl Oncol 11, 60–62 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-009-0312-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-009-0312-3