Survival for insulinoma
Insulinoma is a type of neuroendocrine tumour (NET) that starts in the insulin making cells of the pancreas. Survival for insulinomas depends on different factors. So no one can tell you exactly how long you will live.
Doctors usually work out the outlook for a certain disease by looking at large groups of people. Because insulinomas are so rare, the survival for this disease is harder to estimate than for other, more common cancers.
These are general statistics based on small groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case. Your specialist doctor can give you more information about your own outlook (prognosis).
What affects survival
Survival depends on many factors. It depends on the stage and grade of the insulinoma when it was diagnosed and your overall health. The stage describes the size of the cancer and whether it has spread. The grade means how abnormal the cells look under a microscope.
Survival for insulinomas
There are no UK wide survival statistics for people with insulinoma. The statistics below are from a study in England and Wales.
Around 50 out of every 100 people (around 50%) diagnosed with insulinoma survive their cancer for 5 years or more.
These 5 year survival statistics comes from an English and Welsh study. It looked at 4104 people diagnosed with malignant digestive endocrine tumours between 1986 and 1999. 49 people had insulinomas. This study was done some time ago and people are now more likely to have different and better treatments.
Survival from malignant digestive endocrine tumors in England and Wales: a population-based study
C Lepage and others
Gastroenterology 2007, Volume 132, Issue 3, Pages 899-904.
These 5 year survival statistics are for relative survival. Relative survival takes into account that some people will die of causes other than cancer. This gives a more accurate picture of cancer survival.
Survival for NETs of the pancreas
1 year survival
The information below is for 1 year overall survival for pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) in the UK.
Around 80 in 100 people (around 80%) survive for 1 year or more.
5 year survival
There are no UK-wide 5 year survival statistics available for pancreatic NENs. The statistics below are from a European study. Please be aware that these figures may not be a true picture of survival in the UK. This is due to differences in health care systems, data collection and the population,
Around 40 out of 100 people (around 40%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
1 year survival
This 1 year survival rate comes from a study done by Public Health England. The study looked at 1,415 people diagnosed with a pancreatic NEN in England between 2013 and 2015.
Impact of neuroendocrine morphology on cancer outcomes and stage at diagnosis: a UK nationwide cohort study 2013–2015
T Genus and others
British Journal of Cancer (2019) Volume 121, pages 966–972
5 year survival
These statistics are from a European study which included 1635 people diagnosed with pancreatic NENs. The patients came from different European countries (including the UK) and were diagnosed between 1995 and 2002. The 5 year relative survival statistics are for people diagnosed between 2000 and 2002.
Rare neuroendocrine tumours: Results of the surveillance of rare cancers in Europe project
J Maartaen Van de Zwan and others
European Journal of Cancer, 2013. Volume 49, Issue 11, Pages 2565-2578
These 5 year survival statistics are for relative survival. Relative survival takes into account that some people will die of causes other than cancer. This gives a more accurate picture of cancer survival.
About these statistics
The terms 1 year, 5 year and 10 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1, 5 or 10 years.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and researchers collect information. They watch what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 or 10 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.
5 or 10 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 or 10 years after diagnosis.
What next?
You might want to read our information about treatment for insulinomas.
