Nonfunctioning Pancreatic Endocrine Tumors

Nonfunctioning pancreatic endocrine tumors are more common, often larger, and more frequently malignant at the time of diagnosis. The term nonfunctioning is a misnomer, because these tumors may produce peptide hormones whose biologic actions are less clinically apparent.

In some instances, tumor-associated defects in post-translational processing may preclude the efficient synthesis and secretion of peptide hormones. Factors affecting prognosis include the presence of liver metastases, incomplete resection of the primary tumor, and poorly differentiated tumor cells.