AIM:To more clearly define the clinical and pathologicalcharacteristics and appropriate diagnosis and treatmentof nonfunctioning(NFICTs)islet cell tumors,and to reviewour institutional experience over the last 30 years.METHODS:The records of 43 patients confirmed to havenonfunctioning islet cell tumors of pancreas wereretrospectively reviewed.Survival was estimated by theKaplan-Meier methods and potential risk factors for survivalwere compared with the log-rank tests.RESULTS:The mean age was 31.63 years(range,8 to67 years).There were 7 men and 36 women.Twenty-eight patients had a confirmed diagnosis of nonfunctioningislet cell carcinoma(NFICC)and benign islet cell tumorswere found in 15 patients.The most common symptomsin patients with NFICTs were abdominal pain(55.8%),nausea and/or vomiting(32.6%),fatigue(25.6%)andabdominal mass(23.3%).Preoperative ultrasonic andcomputed tomography localized the tumors in all patients.Forty-three NFICTs were distributed throughout thepancreas,with 21 located to the right of the superiormesenteric vessels,10 in the body of the pancreas,6 inthe tail of the pancreas,and multiple tumors were foundin one patient.Thirty-nine of 43 patients(91%)underwentsurgical resection.Surgical treatment was curative in 30patients(70%)and palliative in 9(21%).The resectabilityand curative resection rate in patients with NFICC ofpancreas were 89% and 61%,respectively.The overallcumulative 5- and 10-year survival rates for patients withNFICC were 58.05% and 29.03%,respectively.Radicaloperation and diameter of cancer small than 10 cm werepositive prognostic factors in females younger than 30years old.Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicatedthat radical operation was the only independent prognosticfactor,P=0.007.CONCLUSION:Nonfunctioning islet cell tumors of pancreasare found mainly in young women.The long-term resultsfor patients undergone surgery,especially curative resectionare good. AIM: To more clearly define the clinical and pathological characteristics and appropriate diagnosis and treatment of nonfunctioning (NFICTs) islet cell tumors, and to reviewing institutional experiences over the last 30 years. METHODS: The records of 43 patients confirmed to havenonfunctioning islet cell tumors of pancreas were retrospectively reviewed. Survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier methods and potential risk factors for survivalwere compared with the log-rank tests .RESULTS: The mean age was 31.63 years (range, 8 to67 years) .There were 7 men and 36 women.Twenty- Eight patients had a confirmed diagnosis of nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma (NFICC) and benign islet cell tumors were found in 15 patients. The most common symptoms in patients with NFICTs were abdominal pain (55.8%), nausea and / or vomiting (32.6%), fatigue 25.6%) and abdominal mass (23.3%). Preoperative ultrasonic and computed tomography localized the tumors in all patients. Forty-three NFICTs were distributed throughout the pancreas, with 21 located to the right of the superiormesenteric vessels, 10 in the body of the pancreas, 6 inthe tail of the pancreas, and multiple tumors were found in one patient. Thirty-nine of 43 patients (91%) underwentsurgical resection .urgical treatment was curative in The resectability and curative resection rate in patients with NFICC of pancreas were 89% and 61%, respectively. Overall, 5 and 10-year survival rates for patients with NFICC were 58.05% and 29.03%, respectively. Radicaloperation and diameter of cancer small than 10 cm werepositive prognostic factors in females younger than 30years old. Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that radical operation was the only independent prognosticfactor, P = 0.007.CONCLUSION: Nonfunctioning islet cell tumors of pancreasare found mainly in young women. The long-term results for patients undergone surgery, especially curative resectionare good.