The pancreatic tumor can be of two types: Endocrine or Exocrine. The kind of treatment and medication will depend on the type of Pancreatic tumor. Medical professionals can test the tumor tissue and analyze their biological markups such as constituent genes, proteins, traits, and characteristics. It allows medical professionals to be armed with an intelligent solution that can effectively fight the Pancreatic tumor. This entire process is called Molecular Profiling. Let’s understand the two types of Pancreatic tumor in detail:

Exocrine

This is the most common form of Pancreatic Cancer as the exocrine makes up for 95% of the Pancreas. Exocrine Pancreatic Cancer spreads from the exocrine cells of the Pancreas. The most prevalent kind of Exocrine Pancreatic Cancer is Pancreatic Carcinoma or Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. When cancer originates in the mucus-secreting gland in the Pancreas, it is called Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma is the most common form. Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm(IPMN) is another common inter-ductal form of Pancreatic Cancer. It isn’t dangerous in the beginning, but risk increases as it grows and spreads. Mucinous cystic neoplasm with an invasive adenocarcinoma is a rare Pancreatic tumor that occurs in the tail. It is a dangerous cyst that is comparable to IPMN.

Endocrine

The endocrine pancreatic system generates hormones which are directly released in the bloodstream. These tumors are also called Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs), or islet tumors. These PNETs can be functional or non-functional; the functional ones release hormones, and the non-functional ones don’t. These Pancreatic endocrine tumors react differently as compared to exocrine tumors. Their symptoms also vary from the exocrine Pancreatic tumor.

There are a variety of hormones involved in endocrine pancreatic cancer, and depending on the hormone, the symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer may vary:-

• Insulinomas decreases sugar levels, causes Fatigue and may result in coma
• Glucagonomas increases sugar levels, increase in urination, may cause rash and skin changes, diabetic symptoms
• Gastrinomas inexplicable stomach ulcers, shooting Pain in the stomach, explosive acidity, black-colored stool
• Somatostatinomas can cause a variety of problems ranging from symptoms of Diabetes to Jaundice
• P Pomas explosive and watery diarrhea, liver pain, abdominal pain, enlarged liver
• VIPomas increased blood sugar levels and symptoms of Diabetes
• Carcinoid tumors- affects the functioning of the heart causes wheezing and heart palpitations, may cause heart murmurs