Background:

Pancreatic insulinomas belong to a heterogeneous group of cancers known as neuroendocrine tumors. Their incidence is approximately 1.8 to five cases/million inhabitants; they represent between one and 2% of all pancreatic neoplasms. They can take a benign or malignant course, although insulinoma is the histological type associated with the best prognosis, with up to a 97% survival at five years for benign tumors and 30% for malignant tumors.

Material and methods:

Retrospective, observational, descriptive, longitudinal study in which we analyzed the records of all patients diagnosed with pancreatic insulinoma over a period of six years, with an average follow-up of 32 months.

Results:

A total of seven cases were found, of which 100% were benign and functional. All patients were treated surgically with curative intent, either with enucleation or resection, without presenting intraoperative complications. No patient showed clinical, serological or imagenologic data of recurrence.

Conclusions:

Insulinomas are tumors that occur with low frequency, they are usually functional and associated with a good prognosis.