cANCER RESEARCH
dESCRIpTION
Pancreatic cancer is the abnormal cell growth in the tissue of the pancreas or maybe even surrounding organs. The pancreas produces enzymes that help digest food. It is very hard to control this type of cancer even when detected early, and it tends to happen to people of older ages. This cancer is very deadly as 94% of people will die within five years of being diagnosed and the average amount of life after diagnosis is three to six months. There are four ways to classify pancreatic cancer and it all depends what stage the cancer is in when detected. Resectable is very rare because it the early stages and the cancer has not yet spread outside of the pancreas. Locally advanced is when the cancer has spread to other organs. Metastatic is when it spreads to distant organs. Recurrent is where it is treated then comes back.
Risks and causes
- Smoking cigarettes
- Old age
- Race (African American specifically)
- gender (men)
- Bad diet
- Also if you have ever had inflammation of the pancreas or peptic ulcer surgery
sYMPTOMS
- Feeling illness in stomach, intestines, liver, and gallbladder
- Abdominal discomfort
- Nausea
- Weight loss
- Yellowing of eyes and skin
TREATMENT
The treatment depends on how mature the cancer is and after they diagnose the cancer they will do more testing to figure out just that. Sometimes doctors might be able to:
- remove parts of the pancreas and any surrounding tissue that has cancer in it.
- chemotherapy
- radiation therapy
- clinical trials.
COMPLICATION AND PRoGRESSION
- 0 -The cancer is around the top of the pancreas and has not spread to other organs.
- IA - The cancer is less than 2 cm in size and is still inside pancreas.
- IB - Larger than 2 cm in size still has not spread outside of the pancreas.
- IIA - Growing outside of pancreas but not inside large blood vessels.
- IIB - The tumor is growing either inside or outside of the pancreas but not inside large blood vessels.
- III - It is growing outside the pancreas and close to large blood vessels and major nerves, at may or may not have gotten close to lymph nodes but has not spread to distant areas.
- IV - The cancer has reached other areas of the body.
lIFESTLE CHANGES
Some lifestyle changes that must be made after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is making healthier choices like not smoking or drinking if you have in the past. Eating better is also very important although a lot harder due to the fact pancreatic cancer distorts the taste of food but it is recommended to eat small portions every two to three hours until you feel better. Another important factor is exercising enough even though you may feel fatigue it is still very important because if you exercise some it will help with the fatigue, but that doesn't mean to exercise all the time as it is also very important rest after a workout.
SOMETHING SHOCKING
- Pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers that survival rate has not substantially increased in the past forty years.
- has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers.
- the fourth leading cause of cancer related deaths in the united states.