What is pancreatic cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is a disease in which cancer cells form on your pancreas. Your pancreas is an organ. It is located behind your stomach and in front of your spine. It produces juices that break down food and control blood sugar. Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose early.
Symptoms
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include:
- Jaundice (yellowing) of the skin and eyes
- Stomach pain
- Back pain
- Weight loss (without trying)
- Poor appetite
- Dark, brown urine
- Light-colored or greasy stools (poop)
- Itchy skin
- Nausea, vomiting
- Enlarged gallbladder or liver
- Blood clots
- Diabetes (it’s rare that pancreatic cancer causes diabetes if you didn’t already have it)
What causes pancreatic cancer?
No one knows what causes pancreatic cancer. There are certain risk factors. These include:
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Inactivity
- Age
- Workplace exposure to chemicals
- Gender
- Race
- Family history of inherited genetic syndromes. These include breast and ovarian cancer syndrome, breast cancer, familial atypical multiple mole melanoma, familial pancreatitis, Lynch syndrome, and Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.
- Diabetes
- Chronic pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
- Unhealthy diet
- Coffee
- Alcohol
- Certain infections (H. pylori or Hepatitis B)
How is pancreatic cancer diagnosed?
The pancreas is buried deep inside the body. This can make an early diagnosis difficult. If your doctor suspects you have pancreatic cancer, they might do the following:
- Perform a physical exam (your doctor will feel your stomach for the presence of large tumors).
- Order imaging tests. This can include an ultrasound, CT, MRI, or PET scan.
- Order a blood test. The specific test is called a CA 19-9 blood marker test.
- Do a biopsy (surgically remove a sample from the pancreas).
Can pancreatic cancer be prevented or avoided?
Pancreatic cancer cannot be prevented or avoided. However, you can make lifestyle changes to lower certain risk factors. Those include:
- Exercising daily. Strive for 20 to 30 minutes per day.
- Quitting smoking
- Limiting alcohol
- Controlling your diabetes
- Losing weight
- Eating a healthful diet
You should also talk to your doctor about any genetic risk factors you may have.
Treatment
Most pancreatic cancer cases are diagnosed late (Stage 4). This means the cancer has likely spread to other areas of the body. Depending on the stage of the cancer, surgery may be possible. There are five types of standard treatment used for pancreatic cancer:
- Surgery: This involves removal of the tumor. In extreme cases it may mean removing the entire pancreas.
- Radiation therapy: This uses high energy x-rays or other radiation to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy: This therapy uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells.
- Chemoradiation therapy: This combines chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- Targeted therapy: Drugs are used to identify and attack specific cancer cells. This is done to cause less harm to normal cells than chemotherapy or radiation.
Living with pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect early. This is because it doesn’t always cause symptoms until after it has spread to other parts of the body. This means that by the time it is detected, the prognosis is often not good. As with any cancer, the survival rate changes depending on how early it is detected.
If pancreatic cancer is caught early enough, your doctor will likely begin treating it with one of the treatments outlined above.
If the cancer is at a late stage, the focus will often be on palliative care. This means quality of life and end of life care. This goal is to make a person comfortable and pain free.
Questions to ask your doctor
- Is pancreatic cancer common in younger people?
- Does processed food damage your pancreas?
- Does diabetes medicine protect against pancreatic cancer?
Copyright © American Academy of Family Physicians
This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.
