Islet cell cancer tends to spread to the surrounding lymph nodes, stomach, small intestine and liver.

FORBES: Is Steve Jobs Ill?

When malignant, islet cell cancers do not generally respond well to chemotherapy, and the treatment is mainly palliative.

FORBES: Is Steve Jobs Ill?

But Jobs suffered from a rarer and less fatal form of the disease, called islet cell pancreatic cancer.

FORBES: Is Steve Jobs Ill?

Moreover, Novartis is already testing its drug in other diseases including islet cell carcinoma, a cancer of the insulin-producing cells.

FORBES: Big Bucks

The procedure, known as pancreatic islet transplantation, involves injections of healthy islets, or cell clusters, that release insulin.

WSJ: Cow's Milk Blamed for Too Many Infant Allergies