Pancreatic body and tail tumors

The pancreas is an inconspicuous organ in our body. Because of its hidden location, it is often overlooked by people. When the pancreas suffers from some diseases, it is often treated as a stomach disease, which will delay the disease. The cause of pancreatic disease is still unclear, but it will be related to the patient's living habits and eating habits, so we must develop good living and eating habits in life.

1. Pancreatic Endocrine Tumors

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are rare lesions with a low incidence rate of less than one in a million per year. In my country, the most common type is insulinoma, accounting for about 80% to 85%, followed by non-functional islet cell tumors, accounting for 15%, gastrinoma 3%, VIP tumors and glucagonomas, each accounting for about 0.5%.

2. Pancreatic cystic epithelial tumors

Pancreatic cystic tumors are relatively rare, accounting for about 10% of all pancreatic tumors, and only 2% to 4% of malignant pancreatic tumors are cystic. Pancreatic cystic tumors include serous cystadenoma, mucinous cystadenoma, mucinous cystadenocarcinoma, intraductal mucinous papillary neoplasm, solid papillary epithelial neoplasm, etc. Except for serous cystadenoma, which is a benign tumor, all other tumors are malignant tumors or potentially malignant tumors.

3. Pancreatic Mesenchymal Tumors

The vast majority of benign and malignant pancreatic tumors originate from pancreatic epithelial tissue, while mesenchymal tumors are rare, accounting for 1% to 2% of pancreatic tumors and usually originate from connective tissue, lymphatic tissue, blood vessels, and neural tissue.

4. Pancreatic metastases

Pancreatic metastases are relatively rare in clinical practice. Among 1,000 autopsies of malignant tumors, only 3% have pancreatic metastases. The primary tumor may be lung cancer, breast cancer, renal cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, melanoma, etc. The pancreas is not a common site for tumor metastasis. The imaging manifestations of pancreatic metastases are somewhat related to the primary tumor and may appear as a hypovascular or hypervascular pancreatic mass. Sometimes ERCP may show filling defects in the main pancreatic duct.

The imaging manifestations of pancreatic tumors are rarely specific and the incidence is very low, so the diagnosis often relies on the confirmation of the primary tumor and the cytological examination of pancreatic lesions.