Pancreatic cancer
The pancreas is a long, thin organ that lies behind the stomach near the duodenum, which is the first portion of the small intestine.
The pancreas is a gland and therefore has several functions:
Form the enzymes or substances necessary for the digestion of food and produce hormones, including insulin, so that the body can use glucose.
Pancreatic cancer is the cancer that affects this gland and it is important to know about it since:
-
Its incidence has increased in the last century.
-
It is the fourth leading cause of cancer in men.
-
It is the fifth cause of cancer in women.
-
80% of pancreatic cancer cases occur in people over 50 years of age.
-
Unlike other cancers such as colon and breast, pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages.
Who is at risk of pancreatic cancer?
Genetic, demographic and environmental factors contribute to its development. Of these, obesity and smoking are widely accepted as a risk factor for developing and accelerating the growth of pancreatic cancer.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms are the following:
-
Symptoms depend on the location and size of the tumor.
-
Patients may complain of abdominal pain, early satiety, bloating.
-
Occasionally weight loss, nausea, anorexia, vomiting, or anemia due to occult bleeding.
-
Continuous abdominal pain or discomfort in the pit of the stomach (upper abdomen)
-
Abdominal pain at the aforementioned site that disappears when leaning forward and appears when lying on your back
-
lower back pain
-
Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and mucous membranes)
-
Weight loss without apparent cause
-
Chronic nausea or diarrhea
-
general weakness
-
palpable abdominal mass
-
Pale or white stools
Diagnosis
It is diagnosed as follows:
-
Analyze the presence of the aforementioned signs and symptoms
-
Physical exam
-
Laboratory studies
-
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
-
Imaging studies such as Computed Axial Tomography (CT) o
MRI cholangioresonance
Treatment
Treatment options may be:
-
Surgery to remove the mass from the pancreas
-
Chemotherapy
-
Radiotherapy
If curative surgery is not possible as the tumor is in advanced stages, there are surgical or endoscopic methods to alleviate problems due to obstruction of the bile and stomach due to the size of the tumor.
Follow-up measures:
-
Symptom control (pain, diarrhea, nausea)
-
Eating small and frequent amounts of food
-
Break
-
pain medications
-
Post surgical care
Your doctor should be contacted if:
-
Yellowing of skin or mucous membranes appears
-
Fever higher than 38º for more than 24 hours
-
Redness, swelling, or discharge from the surgical wound
-
Nausea, vomiting, chills
Within the endoscopic methods for palliation or improvement of symptoms due to pancreatic tumors there are:
-
Plastic biliary stents
-
Self-expanding metallic biliary stents
-
Self-expanding metal duodenal stents
To determine the characteristics of the pancreatic tumor such as size, consistency (solid, liquid or mixed) or invasion of lymph nodes, blood vessels or neighboring organs, the best diagnostic method is endoscopic ultrasound.