Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Español
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

pancreatic endocrine cancer

(PAN-kree-A-tik EN-doh-krin KAN-ser)
A rare cancer that forms in islet cells (hormone-making cells) of the pancreas. Islet cells make several different hormones that affect body functions, including controlling the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood and helping digest food in the stomach. Functional pancreatic endocrine cancers make extra amounts of these hormones, which can cause symptoms. Nonfunctional pancreatic endocrine cancers do not make extra amounts of hormones, but they may cause symptoms as they grow and spread. Also called islet cell carcinoma.
Search NCI's Dictionary of Cancer Terms