Clinical treatment of gastrinoma: A case report and review of the literature

Gastrinoma is a gastrin-secreting tumor that is associated with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. The majority of cases occur in the pancreas, followed by the duodenum. Early diagnosis is difficult due to the relative rarity of the tumor and the lack of specific symptoms. In the current study, a 68-year-old female patient presented at the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China) due to intermittent abdominal pain and watery diarrhea. The patient was treated by surgical resection and was pathologically diagnosed with a well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (gastrinoma; grade 1). No evidence of recurrence was observed during 1 year of follow-up. Furthermore, a review of the Chinese literature was performed, which analyzed an additional 17 published cases of gastrinoma. The tumor size ranged between 0.5x0.5 cm and 7.5x6.3x5.1 cm. The pancreas was the most common site of occurrence, accounting for 72% (13/18) of cases, followed by the duodenum (28%; 5/18). The most common initial symptom was abdominal pain (89%; 16/18), followed by diarrhea (56%; 10/18). In 18 cases, including the present case and 17 previous cases, the level of gastrin ranged between 137 and 1,550 pg/ml (normal range, 5-100 pg/ml). Of the 17 previous cases, 11 patients underwent surgery and 6 patients received conservative therapy due to metastasis or patient choice. Overall, gastrinoma remains a rare disease. Complete removal of the lesion is the standard curative treatment and conservative treatment is only recommended for patients unsuitable for surgery or for those with widespread metastasis.