The presence of cancer cells in the tissues of the pancreas shows that the person is affected by pancreatic cancer. The cells are malignant and it is also known as exocrine cancer.
Symptoms
Pancreatic cancer does not show any symptoms at an early stage. Those that are developed later on, are non specific and of vary from person to person. This is the reason; the cancer goes undiagnosed unless it has attained a severe level, so it is a silent killer. Common symptoms are:
Causes
Causative factors are:
So far, pancreatic cancer management is done in two ways:
Symptoms
Pancreatic cancer does not show any symptoms at an early stage. Those that are developed later on, are non specific and of vary from person to person. This is the reason; the cancer goes undiagnosed unless it has attained a severe level, so it is a silent killer. Common symptoms are:
- Pain in upper abdominal area
- Nausea or vomiting with loss of appetite
- Weight loss to a considerable extent
- Diabetes Mellitus or increased blood glucose levels.
- Painless jaundice that leaves a yellowish tint in the eyes; in severe cases, it makes skin yellow. It may also cause steatorrhea or a pale stool
- Clinical depression that sometimes may occur before the diagnosis of cancer
- Trousseau sign, that causes clotting of the blood in portal blood vessels and related problems
Causative factors are:
- Old age, especially above 60
- Being male, as there are 30% more chances than in females
- Taking diet with lower amount of fruits and vegetables
- Increased consumption of red meat
- Diet with high content of sugar, especially fructose that is somehow associated with pancreatic cancer; soft drinks
- Excessive smoking and tobacco intake
- Chronic pancreatic
- Obesity
- Helicobacter pylori infection
- Gingivitis or periodontal disease
- Family history-about 5 to 10% of pancreatic cancer patients have a family history
- Alcohol, it is unknown whether it is associated with this cancer or not. But excessive drinking causes a chronic pancreatic that in turn can cause Cancer.
So far, pancreatic cancer management is done in two ways:
- Surgery
- chemotherapy
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