A minimally invasive operation on two patients suffering from neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas was performed at the Marche University Hospital, for the first time in the region. The two operations were performed by Prof. Marco Marzioni and Dr. Giuseppe Tarantino, of the staff of the Emergency Gastroenterology Hepatology and Digestive Endoscopy Clinic, directed by Prof. Antonio Benedetti, with the support of Prof. Stefano Crinò, of the University Hospital and University of Verona. “The operation – explains Marzioni – consisted of radiofrequency ablation under endoscopic ultrasound guidance of the two tumor lesions that we had already previously studied. In essence, with an endoscopic ultrasound the lesion of the pancreas is reached with a dedicated probe; the probe is connected to a generator that overheats the nodule, effectively burning the tumor cells. Radio frequencies are a particular form of current that allows you to make very precise incisions and selectively burn the lesion. This technology also allows the treatment of lesions that cannot be attacked by means of traditional surgery”. “The two patients – Tarantino specifies – were affected by a particular form of neuroendocrine tumor, the insulinoma; this neoplasm caused dangerous hypoglycemic crises in the two patients, for which they had to follow specific therapies and checks. Just a few hours after the surgery all the symptoms and laboratory anomalies had disappeared; after a couple of days of observation the patients were discharged. We are very happy for the two patients, also because the alternative for them would have been major pancreatic surgery.” . For pancreatic insulinoma in some cases, such as those of patients treated at Aoum, it is possible to offer effective alternative therapies.
