Treatment of Gastrinoma

For information about the treatments listed below, see the Treatment Option Overview section.

Treatment of gastrinoma may include supportive care and the following:

• For symptoms caused by too much stomach acid, treatment may be a drug that decreases the amount of acid made by the stomach.
• For a single tumor in the head of the pancreas:
  • Surgery to remove the tumor.
  • Surgery to cut the nerve that causes stomach cells to make acid and treatment with a drug that decreases stomach acid.
  • Surgery to remove the whole stomach (rare).
• For a single tumor in the body or tail of the pancreas, treatment is usually surgery to remove the body or tail of the pancreas.
• For several tumors in the pancreas, treatment is usually surgery to remove the body or tail of the pancreas. If tumor remains after surgery, treatment may include either:
  • Surgery to cut the nerve that causes stomach cells to make acid and treatment with a drug that decreases stomach acid; or
  • Surgery to remove the whole stomach (rare).
• For one or more tumors in the duodenum (the part of the small intestine that connects to the stomach), treatment is usually pancreatoduodenectomy (surgery to remove the head of the pancreas, the gallbladder, nearby lymph nodes and part of the stomach, small intestine, and bile duct).
• If no tumor is found, treatment may include the following:
  • Surgery to cut the nerve that causes stomach cells to make acid and treatment with a drug that decreases stomach acid.
  • Surgery to remove the whole stomach (rare).
• If the cancer has spread to the liver, treatment may include:
  • Surgery to remove part or all of the liver.
  • Radiofrequency ablation or cryosurgical ablation.
  • Chemoembolization.
• If cancer has spread to other parts of the body or does not get better with surgery or drugs to decrease stomach acid, treatment may include:
  • Chemotherapy.
  • Hormone therapy.
• If the cancer mostly affects the liver and the patient has severe symptoms from hormones or from the size of tumor, treatment may include:
  • Hepatic arterial occlusion, with or without systemic chemotherapy.
  • Chemoembolization, with or without systemic chemotherapy.

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