This study investigates survival of patients diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with liver metastases based on local treatment on the primary tumor. Patients diagnosed with stage IV PNET between 2010 and 2014 were identified from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database. Cancer-Specific Survival and Overall Survival were examined. A total of 191 patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with liver metastases were included in this analysis. There were 47 patients (24.6%) who received surgical resection and 144 (75.4%) who did not. Patients with N1 stage was more likely to be treated with surgical resection. The results showed that surgical resection of primary tumor was associated with Cancer-Specific Survival (p = 0.028) and Overall Survival (p = 0.025) benefit. Not receiving surgery, being unmarried and N1 stage are factors associated with poor survival. This study reveals that local treatment on the primary benefits both Cancer-Specific Survival and Overall Survival in PNET patients with LM. This may be suggestive for the management on this patient population.
Keywords: liver metastasis; pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor; prognosis; surgical resection; survival.