Pancreatic Cancer

About Pancreatic Cancer

The pancreas is a gland located in the abdomen behind the stomach and in front of the spine. Cancer is a class of diseases that is characterised by uncontrollable cell growth. Pancreatic Cancer occurs when this uncontrolled cell growth begins in the pancreas. Rather than developing into fit, normal pancreas tissue, these atypical cells continue dividing and forming masses of tissue called tumours.

About seventy percent of such cancers occur in the head of the pancreas and most of these begin in the ducts that carry the enzymes, making it extremely important to find the right cure for Pancreatic Cancer.

Stages of Pancreatic Cancer

After getting diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, a patient needs to know how much progress the cancer has made in terms of its overall growth in the body. There are mainly five stages of Pancreatic Cancer that one may be diagnosed with:

Stage 0: Cancer is limited to the cells on the top layers of the pancreatic ducts. In this stage, cancer cannot be detected via imaging tests.

Stage 1: Cancer tumour is limited to the pancreas itself, but has grown to a size of at least 2cm across (Stage 1A) or more than 2cm but not more than 4cm (Stage 1B).

Stage 2: Cancer tumour has grown over 4cm and is located at the pancreas itself or it has locally spread outside of the pancreas, especially to the lymph nodes nearby. In this stage the cancer has not spread to distant organs.

Stage 3: Cancer cells may have spread to the nearby blood vessels or nerves, but metastasis hasn’t occurred yet.

Stage 4: Pancreatic Cancer has reached the point of metastasis.

Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer

• Pain in the upper abdomen or back
• Jaundice: A condition that causes yellowing of the eyes and skin and darkening of urine
• Weight loss and loss of appetite
• Itching: If you have bad jaundice, you might encounter itching
• Blood clots may form in the deep veins in the legs
• Nausea and vomiting
• Also, newly developed diabetes is a sign in ten to twenty percent of cases of cancer. This is caused by the cancerous pancreas inability to produce insulin.

Risk Factors:

The exact causes of Pancreatic Cancer are still unknown. However, there are few factors that increase the risk. These are:

• Smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes, and chewing tobacco. Each of them increases the risk of Pancreatic Cancer.
• Medical conditions: Risk of Pancreatic Cancer is increased if you have a record of Stomach Ulcer, Diabetes, Hereditary Pancreatitis and Hepatitis Virus Infection.
• Alcohol: 7 out of 10 cases of chronic cancer are due to long-term drinking.
• Excessive consumption of red meat is linked to Pancreatic Cancer.
• Genetics: 5-10% of people with Pancreatic Cancer have an immediate family member who also had the disease.
• The most common types of cancer of the pancreas are exocrine tumours, the symptoms of which can be pretty vague. Also they vary depending on where the cancer is located in the pancreas: head, body or tail.

Diagnosis:

Diagnosis is important to find the right cure for Pancreatic Cancer. Here are a few tests which people can opt for to get a proper analysis of their condition after experiencing Pancreatic Cancer symptoms:

• CT scan (spiral or helical): OCT scans can detect a tumor in the pancreas, enlarged lymph nodes (which may indicate tumor involvement), tumors in the liver or obstructions of the bile duct.
• Ultrasound: Ultrasound uses a device that emits sound waves, which bounce off the organs, producing echoes that are used to create an image of the organ. This can be done on the outside of the abdomen (called transabdominal ultrasound) or from inside the bowel (a catheter is passed through the mouth down to the bowel), this is called endoscopic ultrasound.
• Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and Percutaneous Transhepaticcholangiography (PTC): If a patient has jaundice, the doctor may want to do a test to find out where the bile duct is blocked and if this blockage is caused by a tumor or another condition. In ERCP, a tube is passed through the mouth and down the throat to the bowel, where a small catheter is inserted into the bile and pancreatic ducts. Dye is injected and x-rays are taken. The x-rays will show where the blockage is and what it is caused by. In PTC, dye is injected through a needle that is inserted through the skin, into the liver. The dye moves into the bile ducts, allowing the blockages to be seen with an x-ray.
• Biopsy: In some cases, a small sample of tissue (biopsy) may be removed during these procedures to be examined by a pathologist to find the cancer cells.

Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Overview

Pancreatic cancer treatment depends on the stage of the disease, the location of cancer, the severity of symptoms and the general health and wishes of the patient. Conventionally, if found at an early stage, cancer can be treated by surgery. However, if the cancer has spread, the patient may undergo palliative pancreatic cancer treatment by managing the signs and complications and improving the patient’s quality of life.

At Cancer Wellness, a leading hospital for pancreatic cancer treatment in India, a team of experts carefully plan the treatment based on the above-mentioned points and patient’s reports. The pancreatic cancer treatment used at the center is based on Immunotherapy, a therapy that harnesses the immune system to fight against cancer cells and prevent them from reappearing. Treatment is available for all types of cancers and can be used in conjunction with other traditional therapies. Cancer Healer Medicines helps in recovering patient with improved quality of life, with a better survival chance proving to be one of the best choices for pancreatic cancer treatment in India. Pancreatic cancer is treated via many techniques that are often mixed and matched to cater to specific cases. Some of the main methods of treatment include:

• Surgery: If cancer cells have not spread to distant organs, then surgery is a viable option to remove cancerous tumours from the pancreas.
• Whipple procedure: It is a surgical method in which the head of the pancreas, part of the stomach, gallbladder, some part of the small intestine, and the bile duct are removed. Some areas of the pancreas are left to produce digestive fluids and insulin.
• Total pancreatectomy: In this surgical method whole of the pancreas, part of the small intestine, part of the stomach, the common bile duct, the spleen, the gall bladder and nearby lymph nodes are removed.
• Distal pancreatectomy: A Surgical procedure in which the body and the tail of the pancreas is removed. There is a chance that the spleen may also need removal if cancer has spread there.

Prevention

There are no established guidelines for preventing Pancreatic Cancer. However it is advisable to

• Quit smoking as it is considered to be one of the main causes of Pancreatic Cancer.
• Keep a healthy weight, exercise and increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Increase foods rich in Vitamin B (B6, B12 and Folate) as they are considered to reduce the risk of cancer.

*Disclaimer: We Do Not Claim To Cure Cancer 100%. We Do Our Level Best To Treat It.*