Is islet cell tumor serious? Pay close attention to it

Is islet cell tumor serious? Islet cell tumor is relatively unfamiliar to many of us. Its incidence is relatively low in clinical practice, so it is difficult to diagnose in the early stage. Although islet cell tumor is relatively rare, its harmfulness and influence are very large, so it must be taken seriously. So, is islet cell tumor serious?

Pancreatic islet cell tumors are divided into two categories: functional and non-functional. Functional islet cell tumors are mainly insulinomas, which are formed by β cells. They are rare in clinical practice. According to foreign statistics, the incidence rate is (3~4) per million. The most common sites are the pancreatic tail, body, and head. Ectopic pancreas can also occur, which is common in 20 to 50 years old.

Pathological changes:

(1) Macroscopic observation: The tumor is usually single and small, about 1 cm to 5 cm or larger, weighing up to 500 g, round or oval, with clear boundaries, complete or incomplete capsule, light gray or dark red in color, soft and homogeneous, and may undergo secondary fibrosis, calcification, amyloid or myxoid degeneration, and cystic degeneration;

(2) Microscopically: Tumor cells are arranged in various forms, some are arranged in island sheets (similar to giant pancreatic islets) or clusters, some are in gyrus, trabeculae, cords, alveoli and ducts, or in rosette-like structures. They can also be arranged in solid, diffuse, irregular patterns, and various structures can be mixed or arranged alone.

There are capillaries in between, and different amounts of collagen fibers can be seen separating the tumor tissues, and there may be secondary changes such as mucus, amyloid degeneration, and calcification. The tumor cells are similar to pancreatic islet cells, small round, short spindle or polygonal, with a relatively consistent morphology, round or oval nuclei, short spindle, fine granular chromatin, small nucleoli, rare nuclear division, and occasional megakaryocytes.

The main treatment is surgical resection of the tumor. If no tumor is found during surgical exploration or the tumor has metastasized, drug therapy can be used, such as cimetidine for gastrinoma, thiadiazine for insulinoma, somatostatin (SMS-201995) for glucagonoma, doxorubicin for somatostatinoma, etc. 5-fluorouracil, dacarbazine or streptozotocin can also be used for drug treatment of islet cell tumors.