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Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer begins in the tissues of your pancreas; an organ in your abdomen that lies horizontally behind the lower part of your stomach. Your pancreas releases enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that help manage your blood sugar.

Pancreatic cancer typically spreads rapidly to nearby organs. It is seldom detected in its early stages. But for people with pancreatic cysts or a family history of pancreatic cancer, some screening steps might help detect a problem early. One sign of pancreatic cancer is diabetes, especially when it occurs with weight loss, jaundice or pain in the upper abdomen that spreads to the back.

Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of these.

Types of pancreatic cancer

  • Exocrine cancers are by far the most common type of pancreas cancer. If you are told you have pancreatic cancer, it’s most likely an exocrine pancreatic cancer.
    Pancreatic adenocarcinoma: About 95% of cancers of the exocrine pancreas are adenocarcinomas. These cancers usually start in the ducts of the pancreas. Less often, they develop from the cells that make the pancreatic enzymes, in which case they are called acinar cell carcinomas.

• Less common types of exocrine cancer: Other, less common exocrine cancers include adenosquamous carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, signet ring cell carcinomas, undifferentiated carcinomas, and undifferentiated carcinomas with giant cells.
• Ampullary cancer (carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater): This cancer starts in the ampulla of Vater, which is where the bile duct and pancreatic duct come together and empty into the small intestine. Ampullary cancers aren’t technically pancreatic cancers, but they are included here because they are treated much the same. Ampullary cancers often block the bile duct while they’re still small and have not spread far. This blockage causes bile to build up in the body, which leads to yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice). Because of this, these cancers are usually found earlier than most pancreatic cancers, and they usually have a better prognosis (outlook).

Pankreas Kanseri

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer often don’t occur until the disease is advanced. They may include:

• Pain in the upper abdomen that radiates to your back
• Loss of appetite or unintended weight loss
• Depression
• New-onset diabetes
• Blood clots
• Fatigue
• Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)

Risk factors

Factors that may increase your risk of pancreatic cancer include:

• Chronic inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Diabetes
• Family history of genetic syndromes that can increase cancer risk, including a BRCA2 gene mutation, Lynch syndrome and familial atypical mole-malignant melanoma (FAMMM) syndrome
• Family history of pancreatic cancer
• Smoking
• Obesity
• Older age, as most people are diagnosed after age 65

Cancer Prevention: Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Taking action to try to lower your risk for pancreatic cancer may also lower your risk for other cancers. For example, not smoking may also lower your risk for lung, esophageal, stomach, head, neck, bladder and other cancers.

Talk with your doctor or nurse about steps you can take to lower your risk for pancreatic or other cancers. Here are some actions they may suggest:

• Don’t smoke. If you do smoke, stop.
• Lower the fat in your diet.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables.
• Avoid too much weight gain and exercise regularly.

Pancreatic Cancer: Treatment Options

Depending upon the type and stage, we may treat pancreatic cancer with surgical or nonsurgical treatments. Long-term prognosis for individuals with pancreatic cancer depends on:

• The size and type of the tumor
• If it involves the lymph nodes
• The degree of metastases (spreading) at the time of diagnosis

Surgical Treatments for Pancreatic Cancer

We may recommend surgery to remove the tumor. This could be a procedure to remove a section or the entire pancreas and/or the small intestine. The type of surgery depends on the stage of the cancer, the location and size of the tumor and your health. There are several types of surgery for pancreatic cancer.

• Whipple procedure: This procedure involves removal of the head of the pancreas, part of the small intestine, the gall bladder, part of the stomach and lymph nodes near the head of the pancreas. Most pancreatic tumors occur in the head of the pancreas, so the Whipple procedure is the most commonly performed surgical procedure for pancreatic cancer.

• Distal pancreatectomy: If the tumor is located in the body and tail of the pancreas, we will remove both of these sections, along with the spleen.

• Total pancreatectomy: We remove the entire pancreas, part of the small intestine and stomach, the common bile duct, the spleen, the gallbladder and some lymph nodes. This type of operation is less common.
• Palliative surgery: For more advanced cancers, the goal of surgery may be to relieve problems such as a blocked bile duct rather than to try and cure the cancer.