Malignant pancreatic somatostatinoma in a patient with dermatitis herpetiformis and coeliac disease.

A case of malignant somatostatinoma is reported in a patient with long-standing dermatitis herpetiformis and coeliac disease. The patient had non-specific abdominal pain of several years duration and came to attention because of weight loss despite strict adherence to a gluten-free diet. Plasma somatostatin levels were raised, and laparotomy showed a pancreatic tumour with metastases, which on histology, electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry proved to be a somatostatinoma. After a promising initial response to streptozotocin, she died 30 months later. This is the first reported occurrence of a somatostatinoma in a patient with coeliac disease, adding to the growing list of neoplastic complications in this condition.