Pancreatic neuroendocrine cancers
Pancreatic neuroendocrine cancers develops in 
in the . You might also hear them called pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). This means the same as neuroendocrine cancer.
There are 2 key groups of pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer:
- pancreatic
neuroendocrine tumours (NETs ) - pancreatic
neuroendocrine carcinoma (NECs )
NETs and NECs are very different. So it is important to know which one you have. Talk to your doctor or specialist nurse if you are not sure.
Doctors group pancreatic NETs as either functioning NETs or non functioning NETs. This depends on whether the NET makes and releases abnormal levels of . The main types of functioning pancreatic NETs are insulinoma, gastrinoma, somatostatinoma, glucagonoma and VIPoma.
Pancreatic neuroendocrine cancers are rare and need different treatment to the more common type of pancreatic cancer.
Grades, types and stages of pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer
Grade means how quickly or slowly the cancer cells are dividing and growing. The stage of a neuroendocrine cancer tells you its size and whether it has spread. There are many different types.
Non functioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NETs)
Non functioning pancreatic NETs are the most common type of pancreatic NET. Non functioning means they don’t over produce hormones, or cause a set of symptoms (syndrome).
Insulinoma
Insulinomas are rare neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) that start in the pancreas. They make the hormone insulin which controls the amount of sugar (glucose) in your body.
Gastrinoma
Gastrinomas are rare neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) that develop in the pancreas or duodenum. They make large amounts of the hormone gastrin.
Glucagonoma
Glucagonomas are very rare NETs that develop in the pancreas. Glucagonomas usually make large amounts of glucagon which raises your blood sugar levels.
VIPoma
VIPomas are rare pancreatic NETs that start in the cells that make the hormone VIP. VIP relaxes the stomach and bowel muscles and affects sugar, salt and water levels in your gut.
Somatostatinoma
Somatostatinomas are rare neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). They develop in the pancreas and the duodenum. Most somatostatinomas make large amounts of the hormone somatostatin.
