Pancreatic cancer affects the tissue in your pancreas and typically spreads rapidly. It does not often have a good diagnosis, even when it's caught early. According to the National Cancer Institute, there were 42,470 new cases and 35,240 deaths in 2009 alone. The pancreas is a large organ that sits horizontally behind your stomach. It releases enzymes that help you digest food and hormones that stabilize the break down of sugars. Pancreatic cancer is hard to detect in its early stages, which is why so many of the cases result in death. Symptoms tend to show in advanced stages when surgery isn't even possible.
Causes
Pancreatic cancer is caused by the development of genetic mutations on the cells in the organ. The mutations encourage the rapid growth of cells that continue living much longer than normal cells. These cells can become a tumor. Doctors use the cell type to determine treatment. If cancer forms in the ducts of the pancreas, it's called adenocarcinoma. This is the most common form of pancreatic cancer. Cancer that is present in the hormone-producing cells goes by the name of endocrine cancer. This is very rare.
Symptoms
You may not experience any symptoms of pancreatic cancer until the disease has already progressed into an advanced state. When the cancer does exhibit itself, you may suffer from jaundice which is a yellow tinge of your skin and eyes, weight loss, appetite loss, upper abdominal pain and depression.
Risk Factors
You're more likely to contract pancreatic cancer if you are overweight or obese, have a family or personal history of pancreatic cancer or pancreatitis, smoke or have family members with genetic syndromes such as Lynch syndrome or Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. You're also at risk if you are older, because most people who are diagnosed are in their 70's and 80's or if you're black.
Diagnosis
There are several tests that aid doctors in diagnosing pancreatic cancer. An ultrasound takes images of your pancreas using high-frequency sound waves. A CT scan creates X-ray images of your organs and a magnetic resonance imaging or MRI uses radio waves and a powerful magnetic field to show your pancreas.
Doctors may use a dye to highlight your pancreas' bile ducts. This is called an ERCP or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. A tube is put down your throat, through your stomach and into your small intestine. This helps the doctor see the ducts. He can also take a sample of the cells or tissue during the procedure. Likewise, a sample can be taken during an endoscopic ultrasound or EUS. It uses an ultrasound to take images of your pancreas from inside your abdomen.
Your doctor can also perform a biopsy which consists of him taking a tissue sample from the organ to examine. He inserts a needle into your pancreas to gather the sample of cells.
Treatment
Treatment plans for pancreatic cancer vary, depending on the type and stage of cancer, your age, health background and desires. The goal is to get rid of the cancer, if possible. If that isn't realistic, the hope is to prevent the cancer from spreading or causing additional harm. In advanced cases, your pain and symptoms may only be treated.
Surgery can be done on a small amount of pancreatic cancer cases because many can't be completely removed as they've spread to lymph nodes, other organs or blood vessels. The head of your pancreas can be removed if the cancer is located there. This is called the Whipple procedure. Part of your small intestine, bile duct and gallbladder are also removed. Surgery can also be done on the body and tail of the organ. This is called distal pancreatectomy. It may also involve the removal of your spleen.
Radiation therapy can destroy the cancer called because the high-energy beams are powerful. It's often done in conjunction with chemotherapy. Chemo kills the cancer cells with drugs. They are taken my mouth or injected through an IV.
Complications
There are several complications of pancreatic cancer. You may feel pain due to the growing tumor pressing on nerves in your abdomen. Pain medications can bring you some relief. A yellowing of the skin, or jaundice, is another complication. This includes dark-colored stool and very yellow urine. To relieve it, your doctor may put a stent in your bile duct to give the bile a bypass to use as it travels from the liver to the intestines. Likewise, a stent in your small intestine can help alleviate another complication, bowel obstruction. You may also lose weight because of the vomiting and nausea caused by cancer treatments. Your body may also have trouble processing nutrients from food. Pancreatic cancer leads to death in most cases.
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