Surgical Management of Endocrine Pancreatic Tumors

Abstract

Functionally active pancreatic tumors (FATs) are generally uncommon. They do, however, exhibit a typical clinical picture and can be diagnosed with considerable certainty thanks to the advances made in diagnosis. Endocrine pancreatic tumors are not only those which originate from the islets, but also those which arise from cells that are not present in this region. The former include insulinomas (producing insulin), somatostatinomas (somatostatin), glucagonomas (glucagon), and PPomas (pancreatic polypeptide). The latter group comprises non-secreting tumors: VIPomas (vasoactive intestinal polypeptide), neurotensinomas (neurotensin), GRFomas (growth hormone releasing factor), gastrinomas (gastrin), corticotropinomas (corticotropin), and calcitoninomas (calcitonin).