Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer General Information

One of the most dangerous and serious forms of cancer is the Pancreatic Cancer. The pancreas is situated horizontally in front of the spine and behind the stomach, in the lower part and is a large organ that secrets enzymes that have important role in the digestive system and hormones that regulate the metabolism of carbohydrates. This cancer represents a massive uncontrolled growth of cancer cells in your pancreas tissues. This type of cancer has a fast spreading process and it is very hard to detect it on time, in the early stages, before it causes major problems in the organism. An important reason why this cancer leads to death so often it is given in this explanation. Major studies have not been performed until some years ago but now it is known that a certain lifestyle plays a significant part in preventing this deadly disease. Certain hereditary abnormalities, smoking, chronic pancreatitis and long-term diabetes are the main risk factors of developing Pancreatic Cancer. During routine investigations, health care providers may not be able to detect the presence of a tumor if there are no manifestations of it because of the hidden place of the pancreas in the body (behind other big organs). In Europe it affects about 70,000 of the population, while in the US the number is smaller, for about 25,000 persons. After the diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer is put, few people reach to live at least six to ten years.

Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms

Usually, in the early stages of Pancreatic Cancer no sign or symptoms appear, so that the tumor can develop in peace, reaching deadly levels, when any treatment might be inutile. The health status, the age and the personal references are also very important. An early discovery of the cancer in his incipient stage gives a real chance to the patient to recover, without any further complications. Any symptom or sign rarely appears until the cancer reached an advanced form and spread to other places of the body, being if not impossible, but extremely hard to remove. But when they do still appear, they manifest by digestive problems (the process of digesting foods, especially fats becomes harder) that lead to a significant unintentionally weight loss, a non-existing appetite or pain in the upper part of the abdomen, radiating to the middle or to the upper back. In advanced forms of Pancreatic Cancer, extreme pains are common because the tumor reaches to other organs and nerves and press them. The pains are not always constant. They may become intermittent and get worse after eating or ling down. These abdominal problems sometimes indicate other diseases and this is why you should be very careful when proceeding with a treatment, because if it is not the right one, your health state could aggravate irremediably. If the cancers reach serious forms, it may block parts of the digestive system (especially the upper portion of the small intestine) so that the patient may present frequent nausea and vomiting.

Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

If you feel unusual intermittent or constant abdominal pains, jaundice or if you loose weight unexpectedly, seek as soon as possible medical advice. Many of your symptoms may indicate other disease than a cancer so that it is vital to be checked by a doctor in order to receive the right diagnose and then to follow the best and adequate treatment. If it is possible, try consulting a second doctor, recommended by your health care provider. A first step in any disease treatment is finding out the stage of the cancer and its location. To distinguish the Pancreatic Cancer from gallstones, the specialist will observe the Courvoisier sign that shows better jaundice. While evaluating the patient for aforementioned symptoms, this cancer may be easily observed. The tumors are identified by the using of abdominal CT band ultrasounds. A EUS is an endoscopic ultrasound that not only helps the doctor to visualize the tumor, but removes small parts of tissues that are very useful in putting a sure diagnosis. Choosing fast the adequate treatment is a vital factor when we talk about an advanced form of Pancreatic Cancer. As in the other types of cancer, trying to eliminate the tumor becomes the main issue. In some cases, this is not reachable, so that the treatment focuses on the growing of the tumor and the harm that is caused.

The main options of treatments differ from surgical methods to radiation and chemotherapies or palliative procedures and clinical trials. The surgery consists in an operation that has the main aim to remove the tumor, either completely or just partially. But a successful removal of the entire Pancreatic Cancer is almost impossible in many people because if the disease spreads, it affects other important major organs, so that an operation is no longer the appropriate method. If the surgery is permitted, there are some procedures that must be followed, that mainly depend on the location and tumor’s stage. Examples: distal pancreatectomy, pancreatoduodenectomy (whipple procedure) and total pancreatectomy. All these procedures must be performed in highly experienced clinics by specialists, because they represent a high risk and a challenging complexity. A therapy based on radiation use X-ray that destroys the cancer cells and usually is a following procedure after the surgery, in combination with chemotherapy. It is also an option, but again only combined with the chemo, when the surgical intervention is not possible. This method has also a lot of side effects, burning your skin, producing nausea and vomiting, tiredness and a general feeling of weakness. The drugs used during a chemotherapy are given intravenously or orally especially in the cases when Pancreatic Cancer has spread to the organs that are nearby or even distant. These drugs are not eliminating the cancer, they only relieve the symptoms and have real positive effects when are applied along other treatments. A significant number of new treatments for Pancreatic Cancer are studied and developed by the researchers, such as: growth factor inhibitors or farnesyl transferase inhibitors anti-angiogenesis factors.