Neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas in a patient with tuberous sclerosis: a case report and review of the literature.

A rare case of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm in a patient with tuberous sclerosis complex is described. The patient was a 31-year-old man who had multiple congenital subependymal nodules, bilateral cortical tubers, and seizures of difficult control. A 2.3 cm × 2 cm well-delimitated solid tumor in the tail of the pancreas was discovered during a monitoring abdominal computed tomography. A distal pancreatectomy was performed. Histologically, the tumor was formed by uniform cells with moderated cytoplasm arranged in a combined trabecular and nested pattern. The nuclear features were bland, and mitosis was infrequent. There was no vascular invasion. Immunoreactivity for cytokeratine AE1/AE3, chromogranin A, and synaptophysin confirmed the neuroendocrine nature of this neoplasia. Pancreatic hormones were negatives. One of the 5 lymph nodes isolated from the peripancreatic adipose tissue was positive for metastases. Small series and case reports have documented that in tuberous sclerosis many endocrine system alterations might occur, affecting the function of the pituitary, parathyroid, and other neuroendocrine tissue, including islet cells of the pancreas. However, the true association of these pathological conditions remains uncertain. As far as we know, there are 10 cases reported of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in a setting of tuberous sclerosis complex, in which 2 cases resulted in malignant, nonfunctioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.