Thirty-Year Survival with an Untreated Malignant Duodenal Somatostatinoma.

Gastrointestinal somatostatinomas are rare. Only 56 cases with duodenal origin have been reported in the literature. The long-term course of an untreated tumor like this is unknown. We report a case of a male patient who lived 30 yr with an untreated metastatic duodenal somatostatinoma. This case suggests that a duodenal somatostatinoma may be of low malignant potential and that expectancy when treating this tumor might be indicated.