Pancreatic endocrine tumours
Pancreatic endocrine tumours are neuroendocrine tumours, which produce hormones. They originate from the Langerhans islets cells. They account for < 5% of pancreatic tumours and are therefore quite rare.
These tumours are predominantly benign but may be malignant as well. However, their disruptive potential comes rather from their hormone-producing properties rather than their mass effect or invasion.
A few percent of endocrine pancreatic tumours are associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) type 1.
The tumours are named after the hormone they produce:
- Insulinoma
- Gastrinoma
- VIPoma
- Glucagonoma
- Somatostatinoma
Insulinomas cause hypoglycaemia, gastrinomas cause severe peptic ulcer disease, VIPomas cause secretory diarrhoea, and so on.