ABSTRACT
There are few other tumors that have held the interest and fascination of surgeons and internists like gastrinomas. Since first reported in 1955, gastrinomas have challenged the traditional thinking in oncology. The relatively high frequency of multiple primary tumors and the potential for tumors to arise from many different locations are both unique attributes of gastrinoma. In addition, gastrinomas continue to defy established oncological principles and classifications even in the current molecular era. For example, it has been shown that sporadic gastrinomas at different sites are monoclonal (1), and thus probably represent systemic disease. However, clinical experience from several centers suggests that multiple gastrinomas even with lymph node involvement are ‘‘curable’’ by surgery (2-4). Although gastrinomas are rare, they have stimulated clinicians and led to significant clinical advances in biochemical assays, imaging, and tumor biology (5). In time, gastrinomaswill lead to new advances in our understanding of tumor genetics, cell biology, stem cells, and new avenues for cancer treatment.
