PubMed · 1963 · 29 citations · 4 references
MedicineEndocrinologyOncologyEndocrine OncologyGastrointestinal OncologyNeoplasiaEndocrine TumorsHormone-secreting TumorsPancreatic CancerPancreatic DiseasesPancreatic HormonesPancreatic PathologyBeta Cell BiologyEndocrine HormonesGastric SecretionGastrin SecretionPancreatic Hormone SecretionPancreatic Islet CellsPancreatic Islet SecretionZollinger-ellison Syndrome
l wo distinctly separate hormone-secreting tumors of the islets of Langerhans have been described. It has long been known that beta cell tumors may secrete insulin just as normal beta cells of the islets of Langerhans do. The non-beta cell tumors which produce a gastrin-like secretagogue (“Zollinger-Ellison” tumors) are less well understood; the exact cell of origin of this tumor and of the ulcerogenic hormone has not been precisely identified. Zollinger-Ellison tumors not infrequently contain some beta cells in addition to the predominant non-beta cell component.2 Secretion of insulin by the beta cells of these tumors has not been described; heretofore, only the ulcerogenic hormone has been isolated from these tumors. The case presented here represents the only reported example of an ulcerogenic pancreatic tumor from which both a gastric secretagogue and insulin have been isolated. Two types of islet cells were microscopically identified in the tumor and the amount of extractable hormones approximately correlates with the number of each cell type.
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