Objective To investigate the clinical features,diagnosis and prognosis of solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas(SPTP). Method The clinical data of SPTP cases that underwent surgical resection with a definitive histological diagnosis in Zhong Shan Hospital from 1999 to 2007 were retrospectively analyzed.Result There were 42 SPTP cases undergoing surgery in this period,including 37 females and 5 males:mean age was 37.6 years.Tumors located in the pancreatic head in 18 cases and in the body or tail in 24 cases.The most common symptom was abdominal discomfort(n=20),palpable mass (n=8).Preoperative diagnostic accuracy of MRI and CT were 93%and 31.8%,respectively.Ten cases underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy,20 cases received distal pancreatectomy,3 cases did spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy.Tumors were simply enucleated in 8 cases.Average diameter of the tumors was 6.1 cm,34 lesions were solid,6 were solid-cystic,2 were cystic.The overall perioperative morbidity was 38.1%,10 cases developed postoperative pancreatic fistula.The mean follow-up time was 38.6 months.Except three cases that were lost to follow-up,all the other cases were alive.Four cases(2 cases had had tumor enucleation,2 had had distal pancreatectomy)developed hepatic metastases on 70、110、41、3 months after first surgery,respectively.A transarterial chemoembolization was employed in three cases,while right hemihepatectomy was performed in one case. Conclusion SPTP is an indolent tumor with low-grade biological aggressiveness.Patients had a favorable outcome after surgical treatment,but enucleation should be avoided.Patients with liver metastasis may benefit from chemoembolization and liver resection.