Pancreatic Cancer: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Pancreatic cancer affects one of the least known and often underestimated. Know your symptoms and causes will help anticipate the diagnosis.

The Pancreatic cancer affects the body that is located between the stomach and spine, organ exocrine (able to secrete digestive enzymes) and endocrine (capable of producing hormones such as insulin, for example). It plays an essential role in some of the most important functions to maintain balance in the body, such as the production of hormones for sugar metabolism, insulin and certain enzymes. The Pancreatic may be the victim of a benign or malignant tumor.

Symptoms

In the first phase, the start, the tumor is rather quiet, hard to unmask. The first symptoms occur, in most cases, when the cancer spreads, being the most frequent loss of weight, digestive problems, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite, jaundice, weakness and pain in the abdomen.

Causes

When it comes to pancreatic cancer, there are some possible risk factors, such as age, smoking, having a family history with this type of tumor, the presence of type II diabetes. It is a type of cancer that affects men more than women.

Diagnosis and Treatment

To diagnose the presence of pancreatic cancer is necessary to undergo some tests, such as ultrasound, for a preliminary investigation, and TAC, option of more comprehensive diagnostic that allows you to better identify tumor lesions with features and dimensions. To dig deeper into the lesions usually takes a biopsy, which guarantees a histological classification of the tumor.

If the diagnosis is early and the tumor is small, at the time of treatment, you can opt for surgical removal. To prevent spread of the tumor can proceed to eliminate entire portions of the pancreas through surgery. Moreover, as a supportive therapy, the specialist may prescribe one or more sessions of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, the only possible options if the cancer is inoperable.