Pancreatic Cancer: The Basics
The pancreas is a gland that makes hormones such as insulin. Hormones help your body to work. Pancreatic cancer is caused by pancreatic cells growing out of control. As the number of cells grows, they form into a tumor.
Pancreatic cancer that has spread from the pancreas to some other part of the body is called metastatic cancer.
Risks
Risks include:
- Smoking.
- Drinking alcohol.
- Having high blood sugar or weighing more than you should.
- Working as a chemist, working with coal or gas and metal workers.
Signs of Pancreatic Cancer
Signs of pancreatic cancer start after the cancer has grown and spread to other parts of the body. Some may be:
- Losing weight or not feeling hungry.
- Yellowing of the skin and eyes.
- 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 also 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
To guide treatment, pancreatic cancer is "staged." This stage is based on:
- Size and location of the tumor.
- Whether cancer cells are in the lymph nodes.
- Whether cancer cells are in other parts of the body.
Stages range from stage I (smallest, most confined tumors) to stage IV (tumors that have spread to other parts of the body, also 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 should be followed by chemotherapy or radiation. Some patients have chemotherapy and radiation and then have surgery if the tumor has shrunk enough.
- Radiation, the use of high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells, is used to keep the cancer from coming back.
- Chemotherapy is the use of medications to kill cancer cells that have gone 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.
Surgical Procedures: Surgery and Staging for Pancreatic Cancer
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