Long-term outcome after resection and thermal hepatic ablation of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour liver metastases

Background: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (Pan-NETs) are rare tumours that often present with or develop liver metastases. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate liver surgery and thermal hepatic ablation (THA) of Pan-NET liver metastases and to compare the outcomes with those of a control group.

Method: Patients with Pan-NET treated in Uppsala University Hospital and Sahlgrenska University Hospital from 1995-2018 were included. Patient records were scrutinized for baseline parameters, survival, treatment and complications.

Results: Some 108 patients met the criteria for inclusion; 57 patients underwent treatment with liver surgery or THA and 51 constitute the control group. Median follow-up was 3.93 years. Five-year survival in the liver surgery/THA group was 70.6 (95 per cent c.i. 0.57 to 0.84) per cent versus 42.4 (95 per cent c.i. 40.7 to 59.1) per cent in the control group (P = 0.016) and median survival was 9.1 (95 per cent c.i. 6.5 to 11.7) versus 4.3 (95 per cent c.i. 3.4-5.2) years. In a multivariable analysis, surgery or THA was associated with a decreased death-years rate (hazard ratio 0.403 (95 per cent c.i. 0.208 to 0.782, P = 0.007).

Conclusion: Liver surgery and/or THA was associated with longer overall survival in Pan-NET with acceptable mortality and morbidity rates. These treatments should thus be considered in Pan-NET patients with reasonable tumour burden in an intent to alleviate symptoms and to improve survival.