Background: Pancreatic tumors in pediatric and adolescent patients are rare, and guidance on prognostication and management is limited. Methods: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (2004–2021), we analyzed clinicopathological characteristics, treatment patterns, and survival outcomes in patients younger than 20 years with pancreatic tumors. Analyses integrated conventional survival models with machine learning approaches to identify key predictors. Results: The cohort included 203 patients, of whom 108 (53.2%) had solid pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPNs), 59 (29.1%) neuroendocrine neoplasms, 16 (7.9%) pancreatoblastomas, 5 (2.5%) adenocarcinoma variants, 4 (2.0%) acinar cell carcinomas, and 11 (5.4%) other rare histologies. Most patients had localized disease (61.1%) and underwent surgical resection (85.2%). Estimated 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates were 87.8% and 84.0%, respectively. Survival differed significantly by histology, stage, and surgery status (all log-rank p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, SPN histology was associated with lower mortality (hazard ratio (HR) 0.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.01–0.13; p < 0.001), whereas distant disease was associated with markedly higher mortality (HR 21.49, 95% CI 7.52–133.41; p < 0.001). Surgical resection was independently associated with lower mortality (HR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02–0.29; p = 0.003). Among patients with known 5-year status, the Random Forest and Gradient Boosting models achieved cross-validated area under the curve values of 0.935 ± 0.060 and 0.886 ± 0.093, respectively; stage and surgery were the dominant predictors in both models. Conclusions: Surgery remains the cornerstone of management for pediatric pancreatic tumors, and advanced analytic approaches may enhance risk stratification in this rare population.
Moris et al. (Thu,) studied this question.