Somatostatin receptor frequency was evaluated in 12 human exocrine pancreatic carcinomas taken after surgery. The tumors were analyzed by receptor autoradiography on tissue sections and by in vitro binding techniques on tumor homogenates. None of the tested human pancreatic carcinomas was shown to possess specific somatostatin receptors. In comparison, five single tumors taken from rats transplanted with the rat pancreatic adenocarcinoma CA 20948 were found to contain specific high-affinity somatostatin receptors. Also, human endocrine pancreatic tumors, i.e., two insulinomas, did contain somatostatin receptors under identical experimental conditions. These data confirm previous results with other tumors, documenting the absence of somatostatin receptors in highly malignant human carcinomas. They also may represent an explantation at the molecular level for the lack of therapeutic effect of somatostatin analogues such as SMS 201-995 seen in patients with advanced exocrine pancreatic carcinomas.