Endocrine pancreatic tumors

Abstract

Pancreatic endocrine tumors (PET), also previously known as islet cell or neuroendocrine tumors, are infrequently encountered neoplasms that were first described in 1902 (Nicholls 1902). Use of the term neuroendocrine as a descriptor of these tumors is no longer favored because PET do not arise from embryonic neural crest cells as was once suspected (Klimstra et al. 2010). Current research suggests PET arise from pluripotent acinar/ductal cells of the exocrine pancreas rather than tissue within the islet of Langerhans as previously believed (Vortmeyer et al. 2004). These tumors are of clinical importance because of their potential for malignancy and associated paraneoplastic syndromes.