The pancreas is an organ located behind and below the stomach. Cancer of the pancreas is a common cancer and does not always have symptoms that are easily noticed, so the disease may often be advanced when it is found.
Joseph Cullen, MD, a gastrointestinal surgeon at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, shares this information about pancreatic cancer:
Who is most likely to develop pancreatic cancer?
Large epidemiology studies have demonstrated that patients who are obese and have a high fat intake in their diet are at greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Additionally, patients who smoke and patients who have consumed a fair amount of alcohol to cause chronic pancreatitis are all at risk for pancreatic cancer.
Are there things we do that may increase our risks of developing pancreatic cancer?
There are some genetic markers, but those occur in about 10 percent of all cases of pancreatic cancer.
What are the symptoms?
Well, they can develop abdominal fullness after they eat, they can have pain that may radiate to the back, or back pain, and a lot of these symptoms are also symptoms for other common diseases like gall stones or even back pain, so that's why pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose at an early stage.
What kind of testing is done to diagnose pancreatic cancer?
Usually patients will undergo an abdominal CT scan to visualize the pancreas. If it does show a mass, patients may undergo what's called an ERCP, where a scope is placed down through the stomach into the duodenum and biopsies of the area can be performed.
How is pancreatic cancer treated?
If the pancreatic cancer is small and resectable, then a Whipple's operation can be performed. If the pancreatic cancer is larger, or maybe metastatic, then radiation therapy or chemo therapy can be used to shrink the tumor, possibly, if it's not metastatic, so that it can be respectable.
Is pancreatic cancer curable?
It's curable in a very small number of patients because it's usually diagnosed very late. The five-year survival rate is less than 3 percent.
What is the significance of someone diagnosed with pancreatic cancer being treated in a National Cancer Institute like the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center located at UI Hospitals and Clinics ?
This year, an estimated new 380 cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed in the state of Iowa alone. The Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center has excellent surgeons who perform this operation. They have medical oncologists who are devoted to pancreatic cancer therapy.
And there are gastroenterologists who are excellent in the diagnosis of this disease, also. In addition, there are researchers who are investigating pancreatic cancer; there's a foundation, the Susan L. Bader Foundation of Hope, that supports research activity through the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center that is directed toward pancreatic cancer. So there's a lot of experts here working on the disease. |
