condition
Pancreatic cancer
The pancreas is a long, flat organ in your tummy, just behind the stomach, that releases enzymes that help with digestion of food. It also makes important hormones like insulin that help regulate your blood sugar. You can’t usually feel it, but it sits just below the centre of your chest, between the rib cage and your belly button.
Cancer of the pancreas is fairly common in the UK – it's the 10th most common cancer. Sadly it carries serious risk, and has the lowest survival of all common cancers. One of the reasons for this is that symptoms are only noticed when it’s fairly advanced.
What can you find here?
What symptoms should I look for?
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer may be absent or difficult to detect since it may be asymptomatic in its early stages. The following symptoms will manifest only when the condition progresses:
- Nausea or vomiting,
- Problems with digestion or other bowel changes, including abnormal stools, diarrhoea or constipation
- Upper abdominal pain and back pain
- Indigestion symptoms, such as feeling bloated
- Loss of appetite
- Sudden or unintentional weight loss
- Jaundice, often characterised by yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, and itchy skin.
- Very high glucose levels in diabetics
Some of these symptoms, however, may be similar to another condition, such as irritable bowel syndrome, and some people may become used to them.
However, if these symptoms occur more frequently, change, worsen, or do not feel normal to you, you must get medical help.
This is especially so if you show signs of jaundice (the whites of your eyes or skin turning yellow), are sick for more than 48 hours, or have diarrhoea lasting more than 7 days.
What causes pancreatic cancer?
The causes of pancreatic cancer are not well known but there are certain factors that increase the risk. These include smoking, those aged over 75, diabetes, obesity, chronic pancreatitis and a family member with pancreatic cancer. Some inherited cancer syndromes can cause it, although this are not common.
What will my doctor do?
If your GP suspects pancreatic cancer, they will refer you urgently to a hospital team for further investigations. They may order blood tests in the meantime to check your liver and certain markers that indicate the pancreas is under stress or poorly functioning. The specialist team will examine your abdomen, and they will order an appropriate scan – this might be an ultrasound, CT or MRI scan. You may have a procedure to get a biopsy, a sample of tissue, and you might have a procedure called an ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) - a combination of Xrays and a camera test via a tube passed from mouth to gut.
This will help inform the doctor the extent and severity of the pancreatic cancer.
How is pancreatic cancer treated?
Treatment of pancreatic cancer depends on the location, size, type, spread and grade of cancer, and someone’s overall health.
Surgery may be offered to remove cancer, if it’s detected early. Most pancreatic cancers are unfortunately not amenable to surgery.
Chemotherapy can also be used to treat early cancer, control symptoms, to reduce the size of a tumour before surgery, or reduce the spread after surgery. Radiotherapy is sometimes but not often used alongside other therapies.
Pancreatic cancer can difficult to treat. Treatment options are sometimes rather limited, and in this case, supportive care may be offered to help manage and control symptoms. The specialists will talk to you about what treatment options are best.
Only 5 out of every 20 people diagnosed will survive to the first year and beyond, and 1 in 20 will survive to 5 years or more.
Pancreatic Cancer UK is a charity that offers information, support, and it raises funds for research.
Related topics
Read more about: Cancer
Read about: Diabetes
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