Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Surgery

Neuroendocrine tumors can develop in the pancreas and overproduce hormones that have a number of effects on the body, like creating stomach ulcers, diarrhea, causing low blood sugar, seizures, or passing out spells. More often they do not lead to these conditions but produce hormones that have no effect. These tumors may or may not be cancerous. They can be associated with inherited conditions that lead to tumors in other organs like the thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, pituitary gland, and adrenal gland. Your surgeons at North Carolina Surgery (formerly REX Surgical Specialists) in Raleigh, Wakefield, Garner, and Clayton can help with the diagnosis of these disorders, as well as formulate a treatment plan for the management of these disorders. If a genetic disorder is suspected, they can assist with diagnosis and genetic testing, as well as removal of any associated tumors.

Cancerous Tumors

If the tumors are cancerous, in addition to surgical consideration, you may need chemotherapy, hormone therapy or other cancer treatments at UNC REX Cancer Care. You are likely to experience a better outcome from treatment for neuroendocrine tumors than for other types of pancreatic cancers.