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Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET)
Ablation or embolization can sometimes be used to help treat a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (pNET) that has spread to other organs, especially the liver.
Ablation and embolization treatments are different ways of destroying tumors, rather than removing them with surgery. When pNETs have spread to other sites (for example, the liver), these treatments can often reduce tumor size and improve symptoms. Ablation and embolization can also help treat a pNET that has not spread to other organs and cannot be surgically removed. These treatments are very unlikely to cure the cancer on their own. They are more likely to be used to help prevent or relieve symptoms and are often used along with other types of treatment.
Ablation is treatment that destroys tumors, usually with extreme heat or cold. There are different kinds of ablation treatment:
Possible side effects after ablation therapy include abdominal pain, infection, and bleeding inside the body. Serious complications are uncommon, but they are possible.
During embolization, substances are injected into an artery to try to block the blood flow to cancer cells, causing them to die.
There are 3 main types of embolization:
Possible complications after embolization include abdominal pain, fever, nausea, infection, and blood clots in nearby blood vessels. Serious complications are not common, but they can happen.
Developed by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Cho CS, Lubner SJ, Kavanagh BD. Chapter 125: Metastatic Cancer to the Liver. In: DeVita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, eds. DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg’s Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2015.
Garg R, Mohammed A, Singh A, Harnegie MP, Rustagi T, Stevens T, Chahal P. EUS-guided radiofrequency and ethanol ablation for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Endosc Ultrasound. 2022 May-Jun;11(3):170-185. doi: 10.4103/EUS-D-21-00044. PMID: 35313416; PMCID: PMC9258014.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Neuroendocrine and Adrenal Tumors. V.2.2024. Accessed at https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/neuroendocrine.pdf on August 4, 2024.
Schneider DF, Mazeh H, Lubner SJ, Jaume JC, Chen H. Chapter 71: Cancer of the endocrine system. In: Niederhuber JE, Armitage JO, Dorshow JH, Kastan MB, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa. Elsevier: 2014.
Last Revised: August 22, 2024
Last Revised: March 29, 2025
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