Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Pancreas Transplantation
The pancreas is a gland behind your stomach and in front of your spine. It produces the juices that help break down food and the hormones that help control blood sugar levels. A pancreas transplant is surgery to place a healthy pancreas from a donor into a person with a diseased pancreas. It is mostly done for people with severe type 1 diabetes. It can allow them to give up insulin shots. An experimental procedure called islet cell transplantation transplants only the parts of the pancreas that make insulin.
People who have transplants must take drugs to keep their body from rejecting the new pancreas for the rest of their lives. They must also have regular follow-up care. Because of the risks, it is not a common treatment for type 1 diabetes.
It sits within Digestive System, Endocrine System and Transplantation and Donation.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Pancreas Transplantation
223 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Breakthrough - T1DM and Chronic Kidney DiseaseUniversity of Chicago
- Efficacy of Islet Re-transplantation After Failure of Beta-cell ReplacementUniversity Hospital, Montpellier
- Letermovir (Prevymis) for CMV in Kidney and Pancreas Transplant RecipientsUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
- A Trial to Treat Polyomavirus Infections (BKPyV) in Kidney and Simultaneous Kidney Pancreas Transplant RecipientsThe University of Queensland
- A Phase 3 Study of Tabelecleucel for Participants With Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disease After Failure With Rituximab or Rituximab and ChemotherapyPierre Fabre Medicament
- TACKLE-IT Trial - Treat Acute T Cell Rejection With Evidence and Confidence in Kidney Transplant RecipientsUniversity of Sydney
Research already completed
- Implementation of a Clinical Tool to Improve Waitlist Mortality in Patients With Cystic FibrosisThe Cleveland Clinic
- Peer i-Coaching for Activated Self-Management Optimization in Adolescents and Young Adults With Chronic ConditionsDuke University
- Assessing Benchmarks For Allosure And Allomap Testing in Simultaneous Kidney & Pancreas Transplant Recipients.Montefiore Medical Center
- A Phase 3 Single Center Study of Islet Transplantation in Non-uremic Diabetic PatientsNorthwestern University
- Anti-inflammatory Therapy to Improve Outcomes After TPIATUniversity of Minnesota
- Type 1 Diabetes Recurrence in Pancreas TransplantsUniversity of Miami
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Learn More
- Getting a New Pancreas: Facts about Pancreas TransplantsAmerican Society of Transplantation
- Kidney-Pancreas TransplantNational Kidney Foundation
- Pancreas transplant - series -- Normal anatomyMedical Encyclopedia
- Questions and Answers for Transplant Candidates about Pancreas, Pancreas-Kidney, and Islet AllocationHealth Resources and Services Administration
Statistics and Research
- OPTN/SRTR Annual Data ReportScientific Registry of Transplant Recipients
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Pancreas TransplantationNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Pancreas Transplantation. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Pancreas Transplantation, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.