Table of contents:
- What is a pancreatic tumor (insulinoma)?
- What are the symptoms of a pancreatic tumor?
- Who is at risk for insulinoma?
- Can insulinoma be prevented?
- How to treat pancreatic tumors?
The pancreas is an organ that is very important in regulating the body's metabolic processes. If the pancreas is affected, this can lead to decreased blood sugar levels or hypoglycemia, as occurs in people with diabetes. However, the symptoms of hypoglycemia can also be a sign of abnormal cell growth, aka a tumor in the pancreas, also known as an insulinoma. Although not a cancer, the effects of pancreatic tumors can be very serious, even deadly.
What is a pancreatic tumor (insulinoma)?
Insulinomas are small tumors that grow on the pancreas. This tumor has a very small size, less than 2 cm in diameter. Insulinoma is also a benign tumor so that it has a very small chance of developing into cancer. However, the chances of developing insulinoma becoming cancer in a person are higher if there are neoplasia disorders in other endocrine glands.
Under normal conditions, the pancreas will only produce the hormone insulin as needed, or according to glucose that is absorbed and circulated in the blood, so that glucose levels in the blood remain normal. However, the presence of a tumor in the pancreas will increase the production of excess insulin even when it is not needed. As a result, insulinoma sufferers can experience a drastic drop in glucose levels and cause serious hypoglycemia.
What are the symptoms of a pancreatic tumor?
Insulinoma symptoms or attacks can occur when a person consumes glucose in small or limited amounts for a certain time, such as when fasting. A case report shows that fasting insulinoma sufferers can experience a decrease in blood glucose levels of up to 1.5 mmol / L or almost three times lower than normal fasting blood sugar levels (3.9 - 5.5 mmol / L). This is very dangerous and can cause serious insulinoma effects that require immediate treatment.
Insulinoma sufferers are not always aware of the symptoms that occur to them. This is due to the severity of tumor development and the hypoglycemic condition that occurs. In mild conditions, sufferers may experience the following symptoms:
- The vision blurred suddenly
- Confusion
- Dizzy
- Experiencing mood disorders, feeling anxious and easily emotional
- Limp and experiencing tremors
- Sweating
- Experiencing sudden weight gain
In serious conditions, people with insulinoma can experience central nervous system disorders, adrenal gland disorders and heart, and cause several symptoms such as:
- Stomach pain and diarrhea
- Back pain
- Experiencing jaundice (yellowish eye and skin color)
- Convulsions
- Trouble thinking
- Very fast heart beats (more than 95 heart beats per minute)
- Loss of consciousness or coma
Who is at risk for insulinoma?
Until now it is not known exactly how insulinoma tumor originates and how it can cause damage to the pancreas. Moreover, there are no specific conditions that trigger insulinoma symptoms, namely insulin production will remain high when blood glucose levels are still within normal limits, and it is more dangerous when it is low.
One study investigating lifestyle factors and tumor risk factors with insulinoma incidence also found no significant association between the two. However, these studies show that most of the incidence of insulinoma is a disease that runs in families. Individuals with a family history or parents with insulinomas are 16 times more likely to develop insulinomas. Then, a family history of all types of cancer will increase a person's risk of developing insulinoma by about two times higher.
Can insulinoma be prevented?
Insulinomas are not known to have modifiable risk factors, so no specific preventive measures can be taken. However, implementing a healthy lifestyle with balanced physical activity and nutrition and consuming more vegetables and fruits is known to prevent the development of abnormal cells or tumors in a person, especially if you have a risk from a family history of cancer or tumors. Maintaining the health of the pancreas can be done by not smoking and eating less red meat.
How to treat pancreatic tumors?
Like tumors in general, insulinomas can be cured by removing tumors in the pancreas with a high cure rate. However, tumors in the pancreas can develop into cancer and thus require treatment of cancer healing methods such as radiofrequency ablation, cryotherapy and chemotherapy.
In addition, in some cases, tumor removal also does not cure abnormal insulin production, so taking medication to regulate blood sugar levels is still necessary if the surgical method is ineffective.
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