Yang XM, Sun W, He YG, Peng XH, You N, Tang YC, Zheng L, Huang XB. Patient-derived organoids for the personalized treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with liver metastases: A case report. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2025; 17(11): 112385 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i11.112385]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xiao-Bing Huang, Chief Physician, Department of Hepatobiliary, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, No. 83 Xinqiaozheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400037, China. 13372618116@tmmu.edu.cn
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Oncology
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Case Report
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Nov 15, 2025 (publication date) through Nov 13, 2025
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World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology
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1948-5204
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Yang XM, Sun W, He YG, Peng XH, You N, Tang YC, Zheng L, Huang XB. Patient-derived organoids for the personalized treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with liver metastases: A case report. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2025; 17(11): 112385 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i11.112385]
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Nov 15, 2025; 17(11): 112385 Published online Nov 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i11.112385
Patient-derived organoids for the personalized treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with liver metastases: A case report
Xiao-Min Yang, Wei Sun, Yong-Gang He, Xue-Hui Peng, Nan You, Yi-Chen Tang, Lu Zheng, Xiao-Bing Huang
Xiao-Min Yang, Yong-Gang He, Xue-Hui Peng, Nan You, Yi-Chen Tang, Lu Zheng, Xiao-Bing Huang, Department of Hepatobiliary, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China
Wei Sun, Department of General Internal Medicine, Shanxi Province Cancer Hospital, Shanxi Hospital Affiliated to Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030013, Shanxi Province, China
Co-first authors: Xiao-Min Yang and Wei Sun.
Co-corresponding authors: Lu Zheng and Xiao-Bing Huang.
Author contributions: Yang XM and Sun W contributed to manuscript writing and editing; He YG, Peng XH, You N and Tang YC contributed to data collection and data analysis; Zheng L and Huang XB contributed to conceptualization and supervision. Yang XM and Sun W contributed equally to this manuscript and are co-first authors. Zheng L and Huang XB contributed equally to this manuscript and are co- corresponding authors.
Supported by Chongqing Natural Science Foundation General Project, No. CSTB2023NSCQ-MSX0182 and No. CSTB2023NSCQ-MSX0252; and Clinical Research Special Project of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, No. 2024 F022.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Bing Huang, Chief Physician, Department of Hepatobiliary, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, No. 83 Xinqiaozheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400037, China. 13372618116@tmmu.edu.cn
Received: August 1, 2025 Revised: August 29, 2025 Accepted: October 17, 2025 Published online: November 15, 2025 Processing time: 105 Days and 13.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Liver metastases are very common in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs). When surgical resection is possible, it is typically associated with survival benefits in patients with pNET and liver metastases. Patient-derived organoids are a powerful preclinical platform that show great potential for predicting treatment response, and they have been increasingly applied in precision medicine and cancer research.
CASE SUMMARY
A 51-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with the chief complaint of intermittent dull pain in the upper abdomen for over 3 years. Computerized tomography showed multiple space-occupying lesions in the liver and a neoplasm in the pancreatic body. Pathological results suggested a grade 3 pancreas-derived hepatic neuroendocrine tumor. In combination with relevant examinations, the patient was diagnosed with pNET with liver metastases (grade 3). Transarterial chemoembolization was initially performed with oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil, after which the chemotherapy regimen was switched to liposomal irinotecan and cisplatin for a subsequent perfusion, guided by organoid-based drug sensitivity testing. Following interventional treatment, the tumor had decreased in size. However, due to poor treatment compliance and the patient’s preference for surgical management, multiple resections were performed. Postoperatively, liposomal irinotecan combined with cisplatin was continuously admnistered. To date, the patient has survived 18 months with tumor presence, and tumor markers have returned to normal.
CONCLUSION
This case suggests that patient-derived organoids can aid in the optimization of therapeutic decisions in pNET patients with liver metastases to guide personalized treatment and improve survival outcomes.
Core Tip: Patient-derived organoids (PDOs) show great potential for predicting treatment response in various cancer types. Although gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm organoids can retain the pathohistological and functional phenotypes of parental tumors, their roles in predicting clinical outcomes are not known. Here, we report a case of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor with liver metastases in which personalized treatment guided by PDO-based drug sensitivity testing enabled successful surgery and resulted in a favorable prognosis. Therefore, for patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor patients and liver metastases, PDOs can help identify effective chemotherapy regimens, enabling personalized treatment, facilitating surgical resection, and improving survival outcomes.
