Marcadores tumorales y hormonales de los tumores neuroendocrinos pancreáticos

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours are relatively infrequent, that have increased their prevalence all over the world in the last years, probably for the improvement of the knowledge about them. Even though the definitive diagnosis requires histopathological confirmation in most cases, we currently have image techniques which are in full development and biochemical and hormonal studies that support the diagnosis. Related to the last ones, we have general hormonal and tumour markers, which are useful especially for non-functioning pancreatic tumours, and specific markers that include the determination of the pancreatic hormones that each kind of tumour secretes when they are functioning. In the following review we carry out a overview of these biomarkers, their usefulness in the diagnosis and the monitoring of this pathology as well as the description of new and future markers in development.