Nonfunctioning endocrine pancreatic tumor examined with 18F-FDG PET/CT

A 71-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus complained of generalized fatigue. A 36-mm tumor in the pancreatic tail was detected with ultrasonography. The tumor was found to have marked hypervascularity with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance. Combined (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and CT ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) showed (18)F-FDG by the tumor with a maximal standardized uptake value of 2.98 at 50 min and 3.29 at 100 min following injection of (18)F-FDG. (18)F-FDG PET/CT suggested no extrapancreatic spread of the tumor. The patient had no pancreatic hormone-associated symptoms. Distal pancreatectomy was performed, and a well-differentiated endocrine tumor was diagnosed. The resected specimen showed neither infiltration of adjacent structures nor metastasis to regional lymph nodes. The present case suggests that (18)F-FDG PET/CT is a reliable modality for staging endocrine pancreatic tumors.