Introduction : Solid Pseudopapillary Tumors of the pancreas are rare pancreatic tumors considered to be benign although 10-15% of SPTs have been reported to be aggressive causing recurrence and/or metastasis. Due to its rarity, there have only been a few cases reported regarding the clinical course of patients with aggressive SPTs. The goal of this study is to describe the clinical course of patients diagnosed with aggressive SPTs.

Methods : A pubmed search was done in search of articles describing the clinical course of patients diagnosed with SPT that recurred or metastasized. Patient information, including age, gender, tumor size, operation, recurrence, and death were extracted from the articles. Survival and recurrence curves were plotted and factors associated with survival and recurrences were analyzed.

Results : Patients with aggressive SPTs can survive for up to 152.67 months (5-year survival of 71.1%). Recurrence was noted to occur at 45 months after initial diagnosis, with a rate of 69.5%. Age, gender, tumor size, tumor location, combined resection (en bloc resections, and/or metastasectomies), type of recurrence, stage IV on diagnosis were not significant factors in predicting survival. However, tumors described as unresectable (p

Conclusions : Solid pseudopapillary tumors of the pancreas carry a favorable course. Despite having aggressive properties, patients can still survive for more than 10 years as long as the tumor can be resected completely.