Understanding Cancer of the Pancreas

My father died from this ugly disease over 2 years ago.  I was also saddened by the recent news that Aretha Franklin has this disease too.  It has inspired me to write about the symptoms of pancreatic cancer.  Once my father found out about the cancer he did put up a great fight for his life.  Unfortunately, he died exact a year after finding out he had the disease.  I would like to help others recognize the symptoms and seek help immediately. 

What are the symptoms?

In the early stage of the disease there are very few symptoms.  As the cancer grows, you will notice the following symptoms: 

Jaundice yellowing of the skin and eyes, pale stools, dark colored urine

Stomach pain in the upper part of your belly

Back pain in the middle part of your back that doesn’t go away

Nausea and vomiting

Bowels floating in the toilet

A more advanced cancer can cause these symptoms:

Feeling tired and weak

Loss of appetite or feeling of full when you did not eat

Weight loss for no reason

If you notice any of these symptoms, make an appointment with a doctor immediately. People with these symptoms should seek a diagnosis and treatment as early as possible.

Doctors will know what stage you are in by the size of the tumor in the pancreas.  They will be able to see if the cancer spread to other nearby tissues and whether the cancer has spread to other organs. 

Once cancer of the pancreas spreads, it may be found in nearby lymph nodes or the liver. Cancer cells may also be found in abdominal fluid or cancer cells can be found in the lungs.

How do you know that the pancreatic cancer spread?  It spreads from its original location to another part of the body and the cancer cells are same as those found in the pancreas.  For example, if pancreatic cancer spreads to the liver, the cancer cells in the liver are the same pancreatic cancer cells. The disease is called metastic pancreatic cancer and not liver cancer. It will be treated as pancreatic cancer, not as liver cancer. Doctors call the new tumor in the liver “distant” disease. 

Doctor will know whether pancreatic cancer has spread, by performing a CT scans or EUS.

In some cases a surgeon will look inside the abdomen with a thin tube with a light and lens call a laparoscope.  They make a small incision in the belly button and insert the tube to see inside of the stomach for cancer.  This procedure is done under general anesthesia.

Here are the stages of cancer of the pancreas that I read from a pamphlet given to my father three years ago:

• Stage I: A tumor is discovered only in the pancreas.
• Stage II: The tumor has invaded nearby body tissue but not the nearby blood vessels. The cancer might have spread to the lymph nodes.
• Stage III: A tumor has invaded nearby blood vessels.
• Stage IV: The cancer has spread to a distant organ, such as the liver or lungs.