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Treatment Option Overview
How islet cell cancer is treated
Treatment in a clinical trial
How islet cell cancer is treated
Different types of treatment are available for patients with islet cell cancer. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.
Three types of standard
treatment are used:
Surgery is the most common treatment of islet cell cancer. The doctor may take
out the cancer and most or part of the pancreas. Sometimes the stomach is
taken out (gastrectomy) because of ulcers. Lymph nodes in the area may also be
removed and looked at under a microscope to see if they contain cancer.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by
pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in the vein or muscle.
Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the
bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the
body.
Hormone therapy uses hormones to stop the cancer cells from growing or to
relieve symptoms caused by the tumor.
Hepatic arterial occlusion or embolization uses drugs or other agents to reduce
or block the flow of blood to the liver in order to kill cancer cells growing
in the liver.
Treatment in a clinical trial
For some patients, taking part in a clinical trial may be the best treatment choice. Clinical trials are part of the cancer research process. Clinical trials are done to find out if new cancer treatments are safe and effective or better than the standard treatment.
Many of today's standard treatments for cancer are based on earlier clinical trials. Patients who take part in a clinical trial may receive the standard treatment or be among the first to receive a new treatment.
Patients who take part in clinical trials also help improve the way cancer will be treated in the future. Even when clinical trials do not lead to effective new treatments, they often answer important questions and help move research forward.
Some clinical trials only include patients who have not yet received treatment. Other trials test treatments for patients whose cancer has not gotten better. There are also clinical trials that test new ways to stop cancer from recurring (coming back) or reduce the side effects of cancer treatment.
Clinical trials are taking place in many parts of the country. In the following lists of treatments for the different types of islet cell tumors, a link to search results for current clinical trials is included for each section. These have been retrieved from NCI's clinical trials database. For some types of islet cell tumors, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.
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