• UCLA Health
  • myUCLAHealth
  • School of Medicine
Pancreas Transplant

Pancreas Transplant

Pancreas Transplant
  • Back to Transplant Services
  • About Us
    • Research & Trials
    • Maps / Directions
    • Our Approach to Care
    • How You Can Help
  • Pancreas Transplant
  • Islet Cell Transplant
  • For Patients
  • For Physicians
  • Our Expert Team
  • UCLA Health
  • myUCLAHealth
  • School of Medicine

Pancreas Transplant

Islet Cell Transplant

  1. Home
  2. Pancreas Transplant
  3. Islet Cell Transplant

Islet Cell Transplant

Share this

UCLA is one of only a few programs in the world to offer autologous (auto) islet cell transplantation. This pioneering procedure can restore patients to a life without chronic pancreatitis pain or insulin dependence.

Islet cell transplantation allows us to cure pancreatitis with a lower risk of developing diabetes after surgery. Through islet cell transplant, we remove the pancreas, but you keep your insulin-producing islet cells. Because you keep your own islet cells, auto islet transplant has no risk of rejection.


Why choose UCLA Health for islet cell transplantation?

Our program is among only about 20 programs in the U.S. to offer auto islet cell transplants. UCLA Health offers:

  • Pain relief with lower risk of diabetes: A pancreatectomy (pancreas removal surgery) relieves the severe pain of chronic pancreatitis. By transplanting the pancreatic islets back into your body, you may continue to produce insulin. Transplantation reduces your risk of developing diabetes mellitus.
  • Highly specialized treatment: Before, during and after surgery, you receive care from experts at the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases. To prepare the islet cells for transplant, we partner with experts at the University of California, San Francisco. Meet our team.
  • Whole-person approach: Pancreatitis is a chronic, painful condition. We understand that many individuals have been coping with severe pain, perhaps for years. Our team helps you manage both your pain and the medications used to treat it.

What are islets?

The islets of Langerhans are small clusters of cells in the pancreas. Islet cells produce insulin, a hormone that helps manage blood sugar. These cells also produce enzymes to help your body digest food.


What is auto islet cell transplant?

An islet cell transplant may be an option if you need a pancreatectomy. Pancreatectomy typically removes the pancreatic islets. But without islet cells, you can’t produce insulin. As a result, you develop type 1 diabetes.

We perform autologous islet transplantation. An autologous transplant means we return your own islet cells to you.

With an islet cell transplant, your body can continue making insulin. The pancreatectomy relieves the pain of chronic pancreatitis by removing all or part of the pancreas. The islet cell transplant minimizes or eliminates the risk of diabetes from the pancreatectomy.


How does the islet cell transplant work?

In autologous islet cell transplantation:

  1. You have a presurgical evaluation and choose a date for surgery.
  2. Your surgeon removes your pancreas.
  3. The UCLA team collects islet cells from the pancreas and transplants your own islet cells into your liver, where they will gradually regain function. You have only one surgery.
  4. You stay in the hospital for up to a week or two. Our expert pain management team helps you wean off pancreatitis pain medications, if needed.

What to expect after islet cell transplant

After you leave the hospital, you will continue to have follow-up care from a UCLA endocrinologist (hormone specialist). This doctor will manage your initial insulin treatments as the transplanted islets “rest” after the procedure. Over time, as the islets recover and begin producing insulin, you can hopefully stop taking insulin.

Unlike other types of transplant, you do not need to take immunosuppressive medications after surgery. Because the islet cells are your own, there is no risk of rejection.


Does an islet cell transplant prevent diabetes?

After a pancreatectomy, people get relief from pancreatitis pain. But because a standard pancreatectomy also removes the islet cells, people no longer produce insulin. They develop what’s known as surgical diabetes — diabetes resulting from surgery.

Islet cell transplant can prevent diabetes from developing in some people after a pancreatectomy. Generally, islet cell transplant has better results for people who have had pancreatitis for a shorter time. Over time, the chronic pancreas inflammation can damage the islet cells so they no longer produce insulin.

Our results mirror those of islet cell transplant programs globally:

  • About 1 in 3 islet cell transplant recipients need no insulin at some point after the procedure.
  • Another 1 in 3 recipients require some amount of insulin.
  • Some patients can’t produce enough insulin after surgery. They must take typical amounts of insulin.

Even individuals who do need insulin after the procedure eventually have greatly reduced pain or will be pain free.


Who is eligible for auto islet cell transplant?

We offer islet cell transplantation for adults and children with severe, chronic pain from chronic pancreatitis. Our islet cell transplant team evaluates you to determine your eligibility. We review symptoms of chronic pancreatitis, including chronic pain, and assess your overall health. You also have a general surgery evaluation.

You do not need to be placed on a transplant waiting list for an islet cell transplant. The islet cells you receive are your own, so there is no need to wait for a donor.


Contact us

To schedule an appointment with the UCLA Transplant Program, please call 310-206-6889 or contact us to schedule an evaluation.

Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest
UCLA Health hospitals ranked best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report
  • UCLA Health
  • Find a Doctor
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Nursing
  • UCLA Campus
  • Directory
  • Newsroom
  • Subscribe
  • Patient Stories
  • Giving
  • Careers
  • Volunteer
  • International Services
  • Privacy Practices
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Billing
  • Health Plans
  • Emergency
  • Report Broken Links
  • Terms of Use
  • 1-310-825-2631
  • Maps & Directions
  • Contact Us
  • Your Feedback
  • Report Misconduct
  • Get Social
  • Sitemap
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest

Sign in to myUCLAhealth

Learn more about myUCLAhealth