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Pancreatic cancer is relatively rare, but it is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The earlier pancreatic cancer is caught, the better a person’s chance of surviving. However, most patients don’t have symptoms of pancreatic cancer in earlier stages.
What is Pancreatic Cancer?
Pancreatic cancer occurs when changes in the pancreas cells lead them to multiply out of control. A mass of tissue can result. Sometimes, this mass is benign. In kind of cancer, however, the mass is malignant.
Two types of tumors grow in the pancreas:
About 93% of all pancreatic tumors are exocrine tumors, and the most common kind of this cancer is called adenocarcinoma. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is what people usually mean when they say they have this kind of cancer. The most common type begins in the ducts of the pancreas and is called ductal adenocarcinoma.
According to the American Cancer Society, pancreatic cancer represents approximately 3% of all cancers and 7% of all cancer deaths in the United States. It occurs slightly more often in men than in women.
Even though anyone can get this cancer, certain factors can increase a person’s risk. Some of these are:
- Drinking alcohol
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Family history of this cancer
- High protein diet
- Smoking
- Inherited genetic syndromes (gene mutations)
- High-calorie diet
- Eating a lot of processed foods
People with these risk factors, particularly those with a family history of or genetic predisposition to pancreatic cancer, should consider speaking with a specialist about strategies for potentially preventing cancer and scheduling regular tests.
What Is The Prognosis Of Cancer?
The long-term prognosis for pancreatic cancer depends on the size and type of the tumor, lymph node involvement, and degree of metastasis at the time of diagnosis. The earlier this cancer is diagnosed and treated, the better the prognosis. Unfortunately, this kind of cancer usually shows little or no symptoms until it has advanced and spread. Therefore, most cases are diagnosed at later, more difficult-to-treat stages.
Despite the overall poor prognosis and the fact that the disease is primarily incurable, pancreatic cancer has the potential to be curable if caught very early. Up to 10% of patients who receive an early diagnosis become disease-free after treatment. For patients diagnosed before the tumor grows or spreads, the average survival time for people with this cancer is 3 to 3.5 years.
Why Is Pancreatic Cancer Deadly?
Pancreatic cancer is hard to catch early, but it is also deadly because it can be tough to treat. This is because cancer tumors don’t respond as well to commonly used cancer therapies as other, less lethal types of cancer.
However, treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Treatment generally involves some combination of these three therapies depending on the specific type of this cancer and when it is diagnosed.
Is There A Treatment For Pancreatic Cancer?
Pancreatic cancer can be challenging to treat. The specialist care team looking after you will:
- Work with you to create a treatment plan that is best for you
- Explain the treatments, benefits, and side effects
- Help you manage any side effects, including changes to your diet to help you digest your food
Surgery
Your treatment will depend on if the cancer can be removed or not.
- If the cancer cannot be removed, you may have surgery to help control some symptoms of this cancer
- If pancreatic cancer is found early and it has not spread, you may be able to have surgery to remove it
Chemotherapy
You may have chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer:
- To treat early cancer
- Before surgery to help make cancer smaller
- After surgery to help stop cancer from coming back
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy uses high-energy rays of radiation to kill cancer cells.
Medication
- Erlotinib – the drug works by blocking the action of the abnormal protein that signals the cancer cells to multiply. It helps stop the spread of cancer cells.
