Non-resected solid papillary epithelial tumor of the pancreas: 18F-FDG PET/CT evaluation at 5 years after diagnosis.

Solid and papillary epithelial neoplasm of the pancreas (SPEN) is an encapsulated, slowly enlarging abdominal mass that generally shows no evidence of capsular invasion, regional lymph node involvement, or distal metastases. We present a 68 years old Hispanic male diagnosed with SPEN 5 years earlier that refused surgical excision. Presently he underwent a whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT. Although tumor size, location and CT features did not seem to depict significant changes, FDG-PET was useful showing persistent tumoral activity. A brief review of the differential diagnosis as well as the usefulness of FDG-PET in SPEN (a slow growing pancreatic neoplasm) is presented.