Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) arise from hormone-producing cells and differ from pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
What is this condition?
They may be functional or non-functional; grade and stage influence management.
Signs and symptoms
Functional tumors can cause hormone-related symptoms; others may be discovered incidentally.
Diagnostic assessment
Laboratory testing, cross-sectional imaging and selected nuclear medicine techniques are used.
General treatment framework
Surgery is considered for localized tumors; advanced disease may require systemic, targeted or radionuclide treatment.
Role of surgery
Enucleation, distal pancreatectomy or a Whipple procedure may be selected according to tumor location and biology.