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What Is Pancreatic Cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the pancreas. The pancreas is an organ located behind and below the stomach. It produces hormones, such as insulin, and juices that digest food. Its hormones control how the body stores and uses the food we eat. Most of pancreatic cancers affect the area of the pancreas that produces the juices for breaking down food.

The risk for pancreatic cancer increases with age. Most cases occur in people between ages 65 and 79. Smoking increases the risk. Diseases like chronic pancreatitis, alcoholism, diabetes, or cirrhosis, may also increase the risk. In countries where the diet is high in fat, pancreatic cancer rates are high.

Pancreatic cancer has been called a "silent" disease because it usually does not cause symptoms early on. When symptoms do appear, they may be so vague that they may be ignored or indicate some other disease.

Seek medical evaluation if any of the following symptoms are present:

• nausea
• loss of appetite
• weight loss, without trying
• pain in the upper abdomen or
• yellowing of the skin, called jaundice

Various tests need to be done, including blood tests, CT scans, MRI studies, and others, to determine the exact location of the tumor or growth. A surgical biopsy is used to make a diagnosis of the disease.

Treatment depends on how advanced the disease is:

• Surgery removes the pancreas. If the cancer has spread and cannot be removed, surgery can be used to relieve symptoms (palliative surgery).
• Chemotherapy uses anticancer drugs to kill the cancer cells.
• Radiation therapy uses x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.
• Biological therapy uses methods to get your body to fight the cancer.

Cancer of the pancreas is very hard to control. However, treatment can improve the quality of a person's life by controlling symptoms and complications of this disease.

For more information, contact your local chapter of the American Cancer Society or the
National Cancer Institute at (800) 4-CANCER. Visit their websites at www.cancer.org and www.cancer.gov.

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Disclaimer: This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to change as new health information becomes available. The information provided is intended to be informative and educational and is not a replacement for professional medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional.