Pancreatic Cancer

What Is It?

Cancer of the pancreas is abnormal cell growth in the tissue of the pancreas. The pancreas is about 6 inches long, and is located next to the small intestine, behind the stomach. This organ serves two main functions in the body. It produces juices and enzymes to help with digesting and absorbing food. It also produces several hormones, such as insulin, that regulate the way your body stores and processes food.

About 95 percent of all pancreatic cancers begin in the portion of the pancreas that produces digestive fluids (the exocrine pancreas). The remaining 5 percent begin in the portion that produces hormones (the endocrine pancreas). These different types of tumors are vastly different in their behavior and prognosis. It is extremely important that doctors confirm the type of cancer in the pancreas because of differences in treatment. Since the overwhelming majority of pancreatic cancers are tumors in the exocrine pancreas (adenocarcinomas), this article will focus on this type of cancer.

Therefore, unless pancreatic cancer is detected in its very early stages, it is hard to control. Pancreatic cancer tends to occur in older people, and the incidence of the disease is rising as people live longer. Health professionals estimate that 28,900 Americans (14,100 men and 14,800 women) will die of pancreatic cancer in 2001. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men and women.

It's not clear what causes pancreatic cancer. However, cigarette smoking significantly raises the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. There is evidence that the risk of pancreatic cancer increases the more a person smokes and the longer he or she smokes. Smokers who quit have a lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those who continue smoking.

In most patients with pancreatic cancer, no cause can be found.

Symptoms

Someone with a cancer in the early stages of the disease may not have any symptoms. When symptoms occur, they can resemble many other ailments of the stomach, intestines, liver and gallbladder. As the tumor grows, there may be vague abdominal discomfort. Other symptoms are nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, or pain in the upper or middle sections of the abdomen.

Yellowing of the whites of the eyes and the skin, called jaundice, is another key symptom. Most pancreatic tumors affect the head (upper portion) of the pancreas. When they grow larger, they can block the outflow of bile from the liver and the bile ducts into the intestine. This causes an orange-yellow pigment called bilirubin to build up in the body. In addition to jaundice, symptoms may include itching, brown urine and very light, clay-colored bowel movements.

Diagnosis