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Pancreatic Cancer Awareness
Our mission is to provide excellent, extensive online resources for pancreatic cancer patients, patient advocates, friends and
family members, and medical professionals - thereby also achieving the goal of expanding awareness horizons.
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New Cases in 2000
The American Cancer Society estimates that 28,300 Americans (13,700 men and 14,600 women) will be diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas.
Deaths
An estimated 28,200 Americans (13,700 men and 14,500 women) will die of pancreatic cancer in 2000, according to the ACS.
Rank
Pancreatic cancer is the eleventh most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men and in women.
Brief Anatomy
The pancreas is a gland located in the upper middle portion of the abdomen and is surrounded by the stomach, duodenum (small intestine), spleen and liver.
Shaped somewhat like an elongated fish, wide at one end and narrow at the other, it is about six inches long and two inches wide, with three sections:
the head, the body and the tail. Among other functions, its islet cells produce insulin, which facilitates the uptake of glucose into cells.
Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosing pancreatic cancer is difficult because there are few early symptoms, and most can also caused by many other digestive disorders. These include:
Unexplained weight loss (more than 20 pounds)
Jaundice (yellowing) of the skin and the whites of the eyes
Dark urine
Unusually light-colored stool
Abdominal pain, often spreading to the lower back, and/or abdominal enlargement
Enlargement of the gallbladder
Nausea and vomiting, sometimes diarrhea
Fatigue
Blood clots or fatty tissue abnormalities anywhere in the body
Itching
Risk
Although the causes of pancreatic cancer remain unknown, factors have been identified that increase a person's risk for the disease. These include:
Age:
Risk increases after the age of 50, with most cases diagnosed in people older than 60.
Men are more likely to develop cancer of the pancreas than are women.Race:
African-Americans are more likely than white Americans or Asian-Americans to develop this malignancy.Cigarette smoking:
As many as 30 percent of cases of pancreatic cancer are thought to be related to cigarette smoking.Chemical carcinogens:
There is evidence that exposure to gasoline, metallurgic fumes and certain pesticides increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.Family history:
Five percent to 10 percent of cases of pancreatic cancer occur in people with an inherited predisposition toward developing the disease. Individuals with a familial form of chronic pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) have a 40 percent to 75 percent risk of developing pancreatic cancer in their lifetimes.Diabetes mellitus
Risk increases following certain operations to treat ulcers of the stomach or small intestine.
CT scan or MRI
Ultrasound
Laparoscopy
Biospy
Total or partial pancreatectomy
-- removal of all or part of the pancreas, plus the spleen.Whipple procedure
-- Removal of the head of the pancreas, as well as part of the stomach, the lower half of the bile duct, part of the small intestine, and lymph nodes near the pancreas. The gallbladder and part of the common bile duct are removed and the remaining bile duct is attached to the small intestine so that bile from the liver continues to enter the small intestine.Chemotherapy and radiation are often used for inoperable pancreatic cancers.
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