Resection of gastrinomas

Early surgical treatment of gastrinoma

Medical treatment of the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome has been generally accepted because of the proven efficacy of the histamine (H2)-receptor antagonists in achieving symptomatic relief, and because of early reports indicating that few, if any, gastrinomas were resectable for cure. Gastrin radioimmunoassay (RIA) has made earlier and more certain diagnosis possible, and therefore reevaluation of the surgical management of gastrinomas is necessary. Experience with 60 gastrinoma patients is reported. Comparison between the pregastrin RIA years (before 1970) and post-gastrin RIA years was made to determine whether there was evidence to support the continuation of medical treatment without attempts to resect the gastrinoma. Twenty-five cases were diagnosed in the pre-RIA years. Age at diagnosis ranged from 17 to 68 years (median, 45 years). All patients were operated on. Metastases were found in 56 percent. No tumor was identified in 8 percent. Tumor was resected for "cure" (normal fasting gastrin levels for two years postoperatively) in one patient. Seventeen patients have died, and tumor was the cause of death in 70 percent. The five-year survival rate was 44 percent; the 10-year survival rate was 40 percent. Thirty-five cases were diagnosed after 1970. Age at diagnosis ranged from 39 to 61 years (median, 46 years). Thirty patients were operated on. Metastases were identified in 23 percent and no tumor was found in 17 percent. Tumor was resected for "cure" in 30 percent of patients. Seven patients have died and tumor caused death in 42 percent. The five-year survival rate was 82 percent; the 10-year rate was 64 percent. Advances in diagnosis and surgical technique since 1970 have made early operative treatment applicable in patients with gastrinoma. Because death in most cases is caused by progression of the tumor, an aggressive surgical approach to resect the tumor is advised soon after the diagnosis of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome is established.

Localization and resection of gastrinomas in Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

From 1971-1986, 24 patients were diagnosed as having Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) and 22 patients had laparotomy. Of this group, gross tumor was identified in 15 of 22 patients. Ten of 15 patients had resection of their gastrinomas with the specific aim of curing the disease. This group had responded favorably to either cimetidine or ranitidine before operation. Preoperative transhepatic portal venous sampling (PVS) with gastrin determinations was performed in six patients; three patients had this procedure twice. The tumor was correctly localized by PVS in five of six patients. In four of six patients, the tumor was easily found at surgery. In two of six patients (33%) PVS was vital to intraoperative decisions. Criteria for biochemical cure are normal periodic fasting gastrin and secretin infusion tests. Of the 10 patients who had resection for potential cure, two patients failed within 48 hours of surgery on the basis of an elevated fasting serum gastrin level in one patient and a positive secretin infusion test in the other patient. Eight patients were considered cured with follow-up from 6 months through 15 years. Of the eight cured patients, the tumors were located as follows: four were extraintestinal and extrapancreatic, four were in the duodenal wall, one patient had a tumor located in the uncinate process of the pancreas, and one tumor was located in a lymph node along the lesser curve of the stomach. Two patients had mobilization of the pancreas and duodenum for a "blind" pancreatoduodenectomy based on preoperative PVS (2 procedures each patient). In one patient a 3-mm gastrinoma was enucleated from the posterior uncinate process. The second patient had pancreatoduodenectomy with findings of two duodenal wall gastrinomas. Both patients remained cured of ZES beyond 2 years. It is concluded that PVS does indeed locate some tumors before operation, even those not easily found at surgery. ZES can be cured by an aggressive approach combining preoperative tumor localization and tumor resection. Of the eight patients biochemically and perhaps biologically cured, follow-up was greater than four years in five patients, greater than two years in two patients, and beyond six months in one patient.

Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (gastrinoma). Current diagnosis and treatment

Zollinger-Ellison syndrome is being detected at an earlier stage through liberal use of serum gastrin testing and application of secretin provocative tests if needed. The peptic ulcer disease of patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome can usually be controlled by large doses of one of the new potent gastric acid inhibitors. A battery of preoperative localizing tests can then be applied to guide exploratory laparotomy in non-MEN I patients. The tumor should be resected if possible, and continued low gastrin levels after operation provide evidence of a complete resection. It is reasonable to perform a parietal cell vagotomy at celiotomy because it will facilitate control of acid secretion if tumor resection is not successful. The only need for total gastrectomy is in a few patients whose acid secretion cannot be controlled with H2 receptor antagonists or who cannot comply with medical therapy. When no tumor is found at celiotomy, the prognosis for long-term tumor-free survival is excellent. Unfortunately, if unresectable hepatic metastases are present at operation, the patient is likely to die from metastatic tumor.

Prospective study of the ability of computed axial tomography to localize gastrinomas in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

The ability of routine computed tomography (CT) performed with oral and intravenous contrast to localize gastrinomas in 61 consecutive patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome was evaluated prospectively. The results of CT scanning were subsequently evaluated in all patients by either surgery, autopsy, or percutaneous biopsy. Thirteen of 14 patients with CT scans positive for hepatic metastases and 5 of 13 patients with CT scans negative for hepatic metastases were found to have gastrinoma in the liver. For gastrinoma metastatic to the liver, CT scanning had a specificity of 98%, a sensitivity of 72%, a positive predictive value of 93%, and a negative predictive value of 90%. Twenty-two of 23 patients with positive extrahepatic CT scans and 15 of 33 patients with negative extrahepatic CT scans were found to have extrahepatic gastrinomas. For extrahepatic gastrinoma, CT scanning had a specificity of 95%, a sensitivity of 59%, a positive predictive value of 96%, and a negative predictive value of 54%. The ability of CT scan to detect gastrinomas both in the liver and extrahepatically was directly related to tumor size, detecting 0% of tumors less than 1 cm and 83%-95% of tumors greater than 3 cm. The location of the extrahepatic gastrinoma was also an important determinant in that approximately 80% of pancreatic gastrinomas but only 35% of extrapancreatic gastrinomas were detected. The present results indicate that because of its convenience and accuracy, CT scanning with oral and intravenous contrast material should be the initial procedure to evaluate the extent of gastrinoma. A positive CT scan is almost always correct; therefore, a CT scan detecting metastatic gastrinoma to the liver would avoid unnecessary surgery and, if positive for extrahepatic gastrinoma, would assist the surgeon in finding the gastrinoma. A negative CT is less reliable; therefore, patients should undergo other localizing studies before exploratory laparotomy.

Usefulness of selective arterial secretin injection test for localization of gastrinoma in the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

Secretin was injected into a feeding or nonfeeding artery of a gastrinoma and blood samples were taken from the hepatic vein (HV) or a peripheral artery (PA) to measure the changes of serum immunoreactive gastrin concentration (IRG). The IRG in the HV rose within 40 seconds and in the PA rose within 60 seconds after the injection of secretin into a feeding artery, but not after secretin was injected into a nonfeeder. These results indicated that secretin directly stimulates a gastrinoma to release gastrin in vivo. The selective arterial secretin injection test (SASI test) was applied in three patients in whom gastrinomas could not be located by computed tomography, ultrasonography, or arteriography, and functioning gastrinomas were located in all three patients. In one patient, malignant gastrinomas in the head of the pancreas and in the duodenum could be resected radically with the help of this test.

Selective venous sampling for gastrin to localize gastrinomas. A prospective assessment

In 27 consecutive patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, we prospectively evaluated the ability of selective venous sampling for gastrin to localize gastrinomas, then compared the results with those from imaging studies and with findings at surgery. All patients had a gastrin gradient, but in only 20 patients was it significant. Neither the magnitude of the gastrin gradient nor its presence or absence correlated with the frequency with which gastrinoma was found at surgery. A gastrinoma was found at surgery in 15 patients, of whom 12 had positive imaging studies, 11 had a significant gastrin gradient, 14 had both tests positive, and 1 had both tests negative. A gastrinoma was not found at surgery in 12 patients, of whom 8 had a significant gradient and none had a positive imaging study. Gastrin sampling has equal sensitivity with imaging studies in localizing gastrinoma, but imaging studies have higher positive and negative predictive values and higher specificity. Thus, selective venous sampling for gastrin is much less useful in localizing gastrinoma than has been suggested and should not be routinely done preoperatively in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.

Prospective study of gastrinoma localization and resection in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

In 1982, a prospective study was initiated of 52 consecutive patients with proven Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES), involving surgical exploration with the goal of removing the gastrinoma after an extensive protocol to localize the tumor. Each patient underwent ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) with oral/intravenous (IV) contrast, and selective arteriography. Eighteen patients had metastatic disease identified by imaging studies and confirmed by percutaneous biopsies, and two patients had multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (MEN-I) with negative imaging studies; therefore, these 20 patients did not undergo laparotomy. Each of the remaining 32 patients (3 with MEN-I and positive imaging studies) underwent laparotomy, and gastrinomas were removed in 20 patients. Preoperative ultrasound localized tumors in 20% of patients, CT in 40%, arteriography in 60%, and any of the modalities in 70% of patients. Infusion CT and arteriography were 100% specific. In 18 patients with either negative imaging (17) or false-positive imaging (1 ultrasound), gastrinomas were found and removed in six patients (33%). Twenty-four gastrinomas were found in 20 patients at laparotomy: eight in lymph nodes around the pancreatic head, four in the pancreatic head, one in the pancreatic body, three in the pancreatic tail, three in the pyloric channel, one in the duodenal wall, two in the jejunum at the ligament of Treitz, one in the ovary, and multiple liver metastases in one patient. If one excludes patients with MEN-I or liver metastatic disease, 12/28 (43%) of patients were biochemically "cured" immediately after operation. This result decreased to 7/23 (30%) with greater than 6 months follow-up. No patients with gastrinomas resected have developed recurrent gastrinoma on follow-up imaging studies (longest follow-up: 4 years). This study indicates that 95% of metastatic gastrinoma can be diagnosed before operation and that, by a combination of careful imaging studies and thorough exploration at surgery, 30% of patients with gastrinomas may be curable.

Pancreatic lesions and hormonal profile of pancreatic tumors in multiple endocrine neoplasia type I. An immunocytochemical study of nine patients

Pancreatic specimens of nine patients suffering from multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (MEN I) were investigated with regard to tumor frequency and growth pattern, islet hyperplasia and endocrine cell neoformation, immunocytochemical hormone profile of the tumors, and correlation to clinical symptoms. The majority of the 201 tumors were microadenomas (diameter less than 0.5 cm), which frequently displayed a trabecular growth pattern. Microadenomatosis was considered the most distinct feature of the MEN I pancreas. Additional larger tumors (diameter greater than 1.0 cm) were found in five patients. Whereas islet hyperplasia appears not to belong to the spectrum of the pancreatic lesions in MEN I, nesidioblastosis was occasionally observed. Immunocytochemical screening revealed that among hormone-positive tumors (approximately 80% of the tumors), pancreatic polypeptide tumors (PPomas), glucagonomas, and insulinomas were the most frequent. The high incidence of PPomas in these pancreases probably accounts for the elevated serum PP levels found in many MEN I patients. Somatostatinomas, gastrinomas, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide tumors (VIPomas), and neurotensinomas were rare. Clinically overt hyperinsulinism, observed in two patients and associated with a large insulinoma, was cured by tumor resection. Eight of nine patients presented a Zollinger-Ellison's syndrome (ZES), but only in two patients were gastrin-producing tumors found. The source of gastrin in MEN I patients with a ZES, in whom no gastrinoma could be detected, remains unclear.

Surgery for peptic ulceration associated with hypergastrinaemia

Between 1971 and 1983, 31 males and 13 females were found to have peptic ulceration associated with hypergastrinaemia. An antral G-cell lesion was present in 11 (25 per cent) and a gastrinoma in 14 (32 per cent). There were 11 patients with multiple endocrine adenomatosis (MEA) (25 per cent) and 4 (9 per cent) with primary hyperparathyroidism. Four patients (9 per cent) were unclassified. Length of history and level of gastrin did not differentiate between the groups and an average of 2.5 operations was performed per patient, while the overall mortality was 27.3 per cent. The patients with G-cell lesions were significantly younger than all the other groups (P less than 0.01). Partial gastrectomy adequately treated G-cell hyperplasia. Total gastrectomy was required to treat pancreatic gastrinomata but additional pancreatic resection did not improve the outcome. In MEA, parathyroidectomy did not influence the treatment of a gastrinoma. This is the first recorded experience of surgery for hypergastrinaemia in the United Kingdom and the outcome of such a retrospective study may be a guide to the future management of these conditions.

Aggressive resection of metastatic disease in selected patients with malignant gastrinoma

Fifteen patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome followed at the National Institutes of Health with extensive metastatic disease had an actuarial 5-year survival of 20%. Therefore, in 1982 a prospective study to examine the effect and feasibility of removing all gross tumor in selected patients with extensive metastatic disease was instituted. Five patients with extensive metastatic gastrinoma confined to the abdomen in whom imaging studies suggested the possibility of complete surgical resection were entered into this study and underwent attempted complete surgical resection and chemotherapy with streptozotocin, doxorubicin, and 5-fluorouracil. Median follow-up was 24 months. Surgical resection of all gastrinoma was possible in 4/5 patients attempted. In one patient in whom all gross disease could not be resected, the residual tumor progressed and the patient died 19 months after operation. All four patients with all disease resected appeared to benefit since all of them had a significant reduction in antisecretory medications and are enjoying normal activity and work. Three patients have had no detectable tumor on follow-up, and two of these patients are clinically and biochemically "cured" with normal fasting gastrin levels and negative provocative gastrin tests at 14 and 32 months. Therefore, aggressive resection of metastatic disease in selected patients with malignant gastrinoma is recommended.

The Zollinger-Ellison syndrome: a review of the St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne experience

Eight cases of the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome were diagnosed at St Vincent's Hospital in the period 1966-84. Although a rare tumour, its true incidence is almost certainly greater than the number of cases represented in this series. The Zollinger-Ellison syndrome should be suspected in all cases of recurrent peptic ulceration, in cases of peptic oesophagitis not responding to medical treatment, in some cases of diarrhoea and in those cases of peptic ulceration associated with hypercalcaemia. Rarely the gastrinoma may first present as a mass in the head of the pancreas causing obstructive jaundice. Diagnosis has been made easier by estimation of fasting serum gastrins and the use of the secretin test. Localization is difficult. The treatment of the condition remains contentious. In those cases shown to be harbouring a so-called solitary gastrinoma, laparotomy should be performed with a view to resection. If the gastrinoma cannot be localized then it is reasonable to use H2 blocking agents to control hypersecretion. The presence of hypercalcaemia due to hyperparathyroidism must be controlled by parathyroidectomy. Total gastrectomy is reserved for those few cases who for one reason or another are not controlled by adequate H2 blocking therapy. In the presence of malignant gastrinoma with metastatic disease, hypersecretion is controlled by the use of H2 blocking agents. In this group cytotoxic chemotherapy may be used in an attempt to control the mass effects of the tumour.

Surgical management of gastrinoma

In eight of 10 patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome resection of all visible tumor tissue was combined with gastrectomy. The results in this group of patients, as in other series reported in the literature, suggest that excision of gastrinoma by partial pancreatectomy or enucleation can be combined safely with gastrectomy. Perhaps excision of tumor is preferable in the management of patients with solitary tumor who do not have the multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome. We await further follow-up studies and experience with additional patients before judging this thesis of tumor resection with gastric preservation.

Benign and malignant gastrinoma

The advent of the histamine H2-receptor antagonists and the renewed interest in curative surgery in patients with gastrinoma have made the differentiation between benign and malignant tumors of critical importance. An analysis of 65 patients with gastrinoma followed for an average of 93 months revealed two distinct clinical groups: those with and those without hepatic tumors at initial examination or operation. Among the 14 patients with hepatic tumors, 12 had multiple liver metastases from pancreatic or duodenal primary tumors, and 2 had primary hepatic gastrinomas. Ten of the 14 patients (71 percent) died from tumor progression, and the total tumor-related mortality for this group was 79 percent. In contrast, only 1 of 15 patients (7 percent) with tumor in the lymph nodes died from a tumor-related cause (recurrent ulcer hemorrhage), and none died from tumor progression. Only a single patient with lymph node metastases at initial exploration went on to the development of liver metastases, which was found incidentally at autopsy 313 months later. Among 23 patients with either primary tumors only or no tumors found at laparotomy, there was only one tumor-related death and no deaths from tumor spread. Life-table analysis demonstrated a significantly decreased length of survival for patients with liver tumor compared with those without liver involvement. Multiple endocrine adenopathy syndrome was not a significant factor in survival. Serum gastrin levels were likewise nondiscriminatory. Six of 52 patients (12 percent), including three with tumor in the lymph nodes, were apparently cured by excision of all gastrinoma recognized at laparotomy. The cure rate was 23 percent for patients without multiple endocrine adenopathy syndrome or liver metastases. Hepatic metastases is a definitive marker for clinically malignant disease and portends a poor prognosis. Patients with gastrinoma confined to the lymph nodes uncommonly follow a malignant clinical course. Such patients have at least a 20 percent probability of surgical cure if they do not have multiple endocrine adenopathy syndrome.

Removal of gastrinomas for control of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

There are two distinct problems in patients with Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome (ZES): peptic ulcer diathesis and malignant tumors. Antisecretory drugs have allowed us to control the ulcer symptoms and acid output in 45 patients with ZES. We report here the initial seven patients selected for surgical exploration with the goal of removing their gastrinomas. Prior to surgery, an extensive and rigorous protocol to localize the gastrinoma was carried out, including hypotonic duodenography, abdominal ultrasonography, selective arteriography, portal vein sampling for gastrin, and computerized tomography. With this protocol of radiographic localization, gastrinomas were found in two of the seven cases and the syndrome was "cured" in three of the seven patients. The results also demonstrate that preoperative localization is not a substitute for careful surgical exploration as tumors were found in two patients in whom localization failed.

Founder's lecture. The vicissitudes of pancreatic surgery

Using Senn's treatise as the benchmark from which to measure the advances of pancreatic surgery during the last century, it may be said that acceptable, if not totally successful, progress has been achieved in a number of areas. Injuries to the head of the pancreas, particularly those combined with duodenal trauma, continue to pose difficult operative and management problems. Persistent pancreatic and intestinal fistulas and infection substantially increase morbidity and prolong the hospital stay of some patients with injuries of the body and tail of the gland. Means to control or eliminate the effects of extravasated activated pancreatic juice are needed. Severe hemorrhagic gangrenous pancreatitis, with its excessive morbidity and mortality, offers numerous opportunities for improvement in management. The role of peritoneal lavage and of early resection have not been completely settled and require further carefully controlled evaluation. Why in one case of acute pancreatitis does the mild edematous variety develop and in the next the devastating gangrenous type? Although the majority of patients with chronic pancreatitis can be successfully treated, surgery often falls short of complete rehabilitation. Careful selection of patients and procedures as well as collaboration with colleagues in the psychologic and rehabilitative fields are essential to achieve optimal results. What are the important events within the pancreas that lead to the pathologic changes of chronic pancreatitis? Cancer of the pancreas remains one of the most discouraging problems of pancreatic surgery, and unfortunately, major surgical therapeutic break-throughs do not appear at hand. Earlier diagnosis or technical improvements may add a few percentage points to the survival rate, but our greatest hope for improvement may lie in adjunctive therapies that will help to control the basic biologic aggressiveness of this tumor. What accounts for the biologic aggressiveness of this tumor and how might this characteristic be modified? Of the endocrine tumors the best surgical results by far have been achieved with insulinomas. Diagnosis, localization, and excision are usually successful although occult and multiple tumors still pose a problem. Malignancy is rare (10 percent) in insulinomas, common in vipomas (35 percent), and frequent (66 percent) in gastrinomas and glucagonomas. Although the incidence of malignancy in the latter three tumors diminishes the efficacy of surgical excision, prolonged palliation and occasional cures are achieved. Operation is once again assuming an important role in the management of gastrinoma.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)