THE ORIGIN OF SPORADIC GASTRINOMAS WITHIN THE GASTRINOMA TRIANGLE - ATHEORY

Sporadic gastrinomas are found predominantly within the gastrinoma tri angle (85%), frequently within lymph nodes in the triangle (40%) and o ften multiple (40%). In addition, they are homologous with pancreatic polypeptidomas and express pancreatic polypeptide. We hypothesized tha t, if gastrinomas were of ventral pancreatic bud origin, several (7) p redictions could be made. The data from the investigation of these pre dictions have supported the theory. We postulate that sporadic gastrin omas in the triangle arise from stem cells from the ventral pancreatic bud that become dispersed and incorporated into lymph tissue and the duodenal wall during the ventral bud's embryonic dorsal rotation withi n the area of the triangle.