Types of Pancreatic Cancer

While both portions of the pancreas can form cancer, the majority of cases are found in the exocrine cells. It is important to know in which portion of the pancreas the tumor has formed. There are different treatment strategies and prognoses for each type. 

Most pancreatic cancers begin in the ducts that carry pancreas juices to the common bile duct, which empties into the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine. The most common of these types of cancer is adenocarcinoma. Nearly 95 percent of all pancreatic cancers are adenocarcinomas.

Tumors found in the endocrine cells are known as islet cell tumors. These tumors are very rare (accounting for only 2 percent of all cases) and often are more slow-growing.

There are approximately 20 types of pancreatic tumors.
Non-endocrine pancreatic cancers include:

• Acinar cell carcinomas, which may produce excess amounts of the digestive enzymes normally produced by the pancreas 
• Denosquamous carcinomas, which are similar to adenocarcinomas because they form in glands 
• Giant cell tumors, which have unusually large "giant" cells 
• Mucinous cystadenocarcinomas, which have spaces within a spongy tumor filled with a thick fluid called mucin 
• Pancreaticoblastoma, which is usually seen in children when it occurs 
• Papillary epithelial neoplasms, which occurs mostly in young women in their teens and twenties
  Endocrine cancers include: 
• Gastrinoma, which makes large amounts of a hormone called gastrin 
• Insulinoma, which makes too much of the hormone insulin and causes the body to store sugar instead of burning sugar for energy.