How does pancreatic cancer affect the endocrine system?
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How does pancreatic cancer affect the endocrine system?
If a tumor affects the endocrine function of the pancreas, blood sugar levels rise. This eventually causes diabetes. Pancreatic endocrine tumors are less common than exocrine pancreatic cancer and have a better prognosis.
What is pancreatic endocrine tumors?
Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET) are a group of cancers that can occur in the hormone-producing cells of the pancreas. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, also known as islet cell cancers, are very rare.
What is the most common pancreatic endocrine tumor?
Insulinomas are the most common functioning pancreatic endocrine tumors.
What causes neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer?
Acquired gene mutations. Most gene mutations related to neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas are caused by random changes. These random mutations are called acquired if they occur after a person is born, rather than having been inherited.
What are the symptoms for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor?
These tumors make somatostatin, which helps regulate other hormones. Symptoms of this type of tumor can include belly pain, nausea, poor appetite, weight loss, diarrhea, symptoms of diabetes (feeling thirsty and hungry, and having to urinate often), and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes).
Can pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer be cured?
Pancreatic NETs can often be cured. The prognosis and treatment options depend on the following: The type of cancer cell.
Is neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer hereditary?
Most pancreatic NETs are not inherited and occur sporadically in people with no family history of NETs. However, about 10% are associated with a hereditary cancer or tumor syndrome such as multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), which has autosomal dominant inheritance.
Can pancreatic endocrine tumors spread?
Cancers that are grade 1 or 2 are called pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. These cancers tend to grow slowly and can possibly spread to other parts of the body.
Where does pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer spread to?
While pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors can metastasize to any organ in the body, the most common organ is metastasis to the liver. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors can metastasize to any organ in the body; however, the most common organ is the liver.
