Surgery and chemotherapy are the two treatment methods used, but only surgery can cure the disease. Careful observation may be an alternative approach for some islet cell tumors. Radiotherapy is not effective.
Surgery Surgical removal of the tumor may lead to a cure. Depending on the location of the tumor
part of the pancreas may be removed (partial pancreatectomy) or the tumor cells may be excised locally —or "shelled out"—of the head of the pancreas (enucleation). When the tumor can't be completely removed, reducing its size (debulking) may still be a helpful palliative measure, given that these tumors are slow growing.
Chemotherapy Several biological and chemotherapy agents appear to be active against islet cell
tumors. These include interferon-alpha , a synthetic somatostatin analogue called octreotide , doxorubicin , cyclophosphamide , dacarbazine , 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), streptozocin and etoposide (VP-16) for advanced islet cell cancer. A novel and promising treatment called chemoembolization delivers chemotherapy directly to the tumor via a catheter positioned in a suitable blood vessel. Currently this is useful for patients with tumor limited to the liver.
