Pancreatic Cancer: The Basics

Author: Marisa Healy, BSN, RN

Last Reviewed: October 31, 2023

The pancreas is a gland that makes hormones such as insulin. Hormones help your body work. Pancreatic cancer is caused by cells in the pancreas growing out of control. As the number of cells grows, they form a tumor.

Pancreatic cancer that has spread from the pancreas to another part of the body is called metastatic cancer.

Risks

Risks are:

Smoking.
Drinking alcohol.
Having high blood sugar or weighing more than you should.
Working as a chemist, and working with coal, gas, or metal.

Signs of Pancreatic Cancer

Signs of pancreatic cancer start after the cancer has grown and spread to other parts of the body. Some signs may be:

Losing weight or not feeling hungry.
Yellowing of the skin and eyes (called jaundice).
Pain in the upper part of the belly or back.
Feeling weak.
Feeling sick to your stomach and throwing up.
Having high blood sugar.

Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

When your healthcare providers think you may have pancreatic cancer, they will do a full exam of your body and ask you questions about your health. They may order tests:

CT.
Ultrasound or endoscopic ultrasound.
If a bile duct is blocked, you may have an endoscopic retrograde cholangiography or percutaneous trans-hepatic cholangiography.
Blood tests.

Staging Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is "staged." Staging helps guide your treatment. This stage is based on:

Size and location of the tumor.
If there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes.
If there are cancer cells in other parts of the body.

Stages range from stage I (1, smallest tumors) to stage IV (4, tumors that have spread to other parts of the body, called metastatic cancer). The stage of pancreatic cancer will guide your treatment plan.

Treatment

Often, these treatments are used:

Surgery is only for patients with small tumors who are likely to do well. Surgery is often followed by chemotherapy or radiation. Some patients have chemotherapy and radiation and then have surgery if the tumor has gotten small enough.
Radiation is the use of high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cell. It is used to keep the cancer from coming back (called recurrence).
Chemotherapy uses medications to kill cancer cells that have spread to other places in the body.

This article is a basic guide to pancreatic cancer. You can learn more about your type of pancreatic cancer and treatment by using the links below.

Pancreatic Cancer: Staging and Treatment

Surgical Procedures: Surgery and Staging for Pancreatic Cancer

References

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