Pancreatic cancer

From Freepedia

Pancreatic cancer
ICD-10 code:	C25
ICD-9 code:	157

Pancreatic cancer (also called cancer of the pancreas) is represented by the growth of a malignant tumour within the small pancreas organ. Each year about 31,000 individuals in the United States are diagnosed with this condition, with more than 60,000 in Europe.

The most common form of this disease is known as adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

A less common, and typically far less aggressive form of pancreatic cancer, is called islet-cell tumor (and is sometimes also known by the term neuroendocrine tumor).

1 Diagnosis
2 Treatment
3 Prognosis
4 External links

Diagnosis

Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is difficult because the symptoms are so non-specific and varied. Common symptoms include abdominal pain, loss of appetite, significant weight loss, jaundice, digestive problems, and depression.

Pancreatic cancer is usually discovered during the course of the evaluation of these symptoms by e.g. abdominal CT. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is another procedure that can help visualize the tumor and obtain tissue to establish the diagnosis.

Treatment

Treatment of pancreatic cancer depends on the stage of the cancer [1] Recent advances have made resection of tumors that were previously unrescetable due to blood vessel involvement possible. The Whipple procedure is the most common surgical treatment for cancers involving the head of the pancreas.

Stage	Description	Approx. % of cases	Treatment options	Median survival
Local/resectable	Disease is confined to the pancreas and is clearly separated from surrounding blood vessels	15	Surgery; postoperative chemotherapy and/or radiation may also be offered	17 months
Locally advanced/unresectable	Disease encases or compresses surrounding blood vessels, or has directly extended into adjacent structures	40	Chemotherapy (most commonly gemcitabine-based) and/or radiation. In very rare instances, cancers that respond well to initial treatment may subsequently be surgically resected.	8-9 months
Metastatic	Evidence of extrapancreatic spread to distant organs (liver, lungs, etc.)	45	Chemotherapy (most commonly gemcitabine-based); investigational trials	4-6 months

Prognosis

Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer typically have a poor prognosis because the cancer usually causes no symptoms early on, leading to metastatic disease at time of diagnosis. Median survival times from diagnosis of 3-4 months are not unknown.

Pancreatic cancer occasionally may result in diabetes. The insulin production is hampered and it has been suggested that the cancer can also prompt the onset of diabetes and vice versa. [2]