CW GA-BAMA – Your CW station in Georgia and AlabamaFacts about pancreatic cancer

By Lila Havens
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You may not hear about pancreatic cancer as often as other cancers, but it is a major cause of cancer deaths in the United States. That's because it is often not found until it has spread, or metastasized, to other organs. It tends to spread quickly, and it often comes back after treatment.

The pancreas and pancreatic cancer

The pancreas is a small but important organ located behind the stomach. It has two types of gland cells:

• Exocrine cells, which make enzymes that help break down food.
  
  
• Endocrine cells, which make hormones. The most important ones are insulin and glucagon, which work together to control blood sugar levels.

Pancreatic cancer occurs when cells in the pancreas become abnormal and grow out of control. These abnormal cells can form a mass called a tumor.

The types of pancreatic cancer are named for the types of cells that become abnormal:

• Exocrine pancreatic cancer starts in the cells that make digestive enzymes. Exocrine tumors account for about 95 out of 100 cases of pancreatic cancer. Most of them are cancerous (malignant).
  
  
• Endocrine pancreatic cancer starts in the hormone-producing endocrine, or islet, cells. Only about 5 out of 100 pancreatic cancers are endocrine tumors. Many of these are benign (not cancerous).

Risk factors

The cause of pancreatic cancer is not known, but certain factors increase the risk that a person will get it. They include:

• Smoking. This is the most important risk factor. People who smoke are two to three times more likely to get pancreatic cancer than people who don't smoke. And the more they smoke, the higher the risk.
  
  
• Aging. Almost 90 out of 100 people who get pancreatic cancer are older than 55. The average age at time of diagnosis is 72.
  
  
• Family history. The risk is higher in people whose mother, father, sister, or brother had pancreatic cancer.
  
  
• Being African American. Black Americans develop pancreatic cancer more often than white Americans.
  
  
• Chronic pancreatitis. People with chronic pancreatitis (an inflammation of the pancreas) are at a slightly higher risk. The risk is highest in those who have an inherited form of this disease.
  
  
• Male gender. Pancreatic cancer occurs a little more often in men than women. This may be due to higher rates of smoking in men.
  
  
• Diabetes. The risk of exocrine pancreatic cancer is increased in people who have type 2 diabetes.

Scientists are studying other possible risk factors, such as obesity, high-fat diets, and exposure to chemicals, such as pesticides.

Symptoms

Pancreatic cancer often doesn't cause symptoms until the cancer has spread. When symptoms appear, they may include:

• Yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice)
• Pain in the abdomen or back
• Unexplained weight loss
• Nausea and vomiting
• Pale, greasy stools that float
• Loss of appetite

Treatment

Pancreatic cancer is a fast-growing cancer that is hard to treat successfully. Surgery may cure it if the cancer is found before it has spread beyond the pancreas and if all the cancer is removed. Sadly, this is not often the case. If it can't be cured, surgery may be done to relieve symptoms.

Radiation or cancer-killing drugs (chemotherapy) may be used to shrink the tumor, which can help ease symptoms. Chemotherapy alone may be given to treat cancer that has spread to distant organs.

Targeted therapy may be an option for people with advanced cancer who can't have surgery. It uses medicines that slow cancer cell growth. Targeted therapy may be combined with chemotherapy.

SOURCES:

• National Cancer Institute. What you need to know about cancer of the pancreas. Accessed: 04/09/2011
• American Cancer Society. Pancreatic cancer: what is cancer? Accessed: 04/09/2011
• Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Learn about pancreatic cancer. Accessed: 04/09/2011
• American Society of Clinical Oncology. Pancreatic cancer. Accessed: 04/09/2011

View the original Facts About Pancreatic Cancer article on myOptumHealth.com