Ulcerogenic Tumors of the Pancreas

It has been proposed that a gastrin-like hormone elaborated by non-beta islet tumors of the pancreas may be responsible for a fulminating ulcer diathesis. Subsequently, a potent gastric secretagogue was isolated from ulcerogenic tumors of the pancreas. This disease process is known now as “Zollinger-Ellison syndrome”.In our studies of two cases of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, pancreatic lesions were identified as alpha islet cell tumors (Fig. 1). Tumor cells were fairly uniform. The sizes of the alpha granules were not significantly different, but their number and distribution varied greatly from one cell to another. Each granule consisted of a round, highly dense central core, separated from the limiting membrane by an opaque zone. The granular form of the endoplasmic reticulum was particularly prominent. Numerous mitochondria, round or elongated, were dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Individual or clusters of lysosomes were observed in the majority of cells.