Uncommon tumors of the pancreas are of increasing interest for clinicians: cross imaging techniques development makes it possible to detect small lesions in the pancreatic gland of asymptomatic patients, and in the last decades a more detailed and specific pathological classification definitivelyopened an unexpected world of more or less rare pancreatic tumors. As a matter of fact, nowadays most surgical procedures deal with these so called uncommon pancreatic tumors such as cystic, endocrine and others unfrequent histotypes, and many patientsexperiencing an accidental discovery of this type of tumor need therefore a specialistic evaluation. The concept behind this volume is the need to give the correct clinical relevance to these "uncommon" tumors, that are ranked at the first place among pancreatic tumors, and that are definitively curable with a multimodal approach. Aim of the book is therefore to get clinicians closer to these pathologies, describing their complexity and the current state of the art in diagnostic, therapeutic and pathological classification strategy, thus providing them with the tools for a modern and updated clinical management of these patients.

This volume is a compendium of the lectures, presentations, and workshops of the International Congress entitled "Facing the Pancreatic Dilemma" and of the 17th Meeting of the Italian Association for the Study of the Pancreas, held in Verona on 16 -19 June 1993. Pancreatology is still a relatively young science. Many pathophysiological aspects of pancreatic disease are as yet obscure, and a fair number of the etio pathogenetic mechanisms adduced are no more than hypothetical. We have therefore chosen to compare and contrast in a single volume the various hypo theses and interpretations put forward by leading experts in the field. In view of the swift evolution of this branch of medical science, it is sound policy to bear in mind that yesterday's heresies have become today's orthodoxy, and that todays's heresies may well turn out to be accepted orthodoxy in a not too distant future. The various "pancreatic dilemmas" are addressed systematically in these pages, and we believe that the book will prove an invaluable tool for the special ist and for any physician dealing with pancreatic disease. The book also represents a tribute by the Verona School of Pancreatology to the memory of Prof. L. A. Scuro, founder of the School and one of the outstanding Italian pioneers of pancreatology."

Uncommon tumors of the pancreas are of increasing interest for clinicians: cross imaging techniques development makes it possible to detect small lesions in the pancreatic gland of asymptomatic patients, and in the last decades a more detailed and specific pathological classification definitivelyopened an unexpected world of more or less rare pancreatic tumors. As a matter of fact, nowadays most surgical procedures deal with these so called uncommon pancreatic tumors such as cystic, endocrine and others unfrequent histotypes, and many patientsexperiencing an accidental discovery of this type of tumor need therefore a specialistic evaluation. The concept behind this volume is the need to give the correct clinical relevance to these "uncommon" tumors, that are ranked at the first place among pancreatic tumors, and that are definitively curable with a multimodal approach. Aim of the book is therefore to get clinicians closer to these pathologies, describing their complexity and the current state of the art in diagnostic, therapeutic and pathological classification strategy, thus providing them with the tools for a modern and updated clinical management of these patients.