Pancreas in the digestive system
Pancreatic cancer in the digestive system
Pancreatic cancer begins in the tissues of your pancreas, an organ in your abdomen that lies behind the lower part of your stomach. Your pancreas releases enzymes that produce hormones that aid digestion and help manage your blood sugar.
Various types of growths can occur in the pancreas, including cancerous and noncancerous tumors. The most common type of cancer that occurs in the pancreas begins in the cells that line the ducts that carry digestive enzymes from the pancreas (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma).
Pancreatic cancer is rarely detected at an early stage when it can be cured. This is because it usually doesn’t cause symptoms until it has spread to other organs.
Pancreatic cancer treatment options are selected based on the size of the cancer. Options may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a combination of these.
The symptoms
Signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer usually do not appear until the disease has progressed. They may include:
- Abdominal pain that radiates to your back
- Lack of appetite or unwanted weight loss
- Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
- Light colored stools
- Dark urine
- Itchy skin
- New diabetes is diagnosed or existing diabetes, which is becoming more difficult to control
- Blood clots
- Tiredness
When to see a doctor
See your doctor if you experience unexplained symptoms that worry you. Many other conditions can cause these symptoms, so your doctor can check for pancreatic cancer as well as these conditions.
Reasons
It’s not clear what causes pancreatic cancer. Doctors have identified certain factors that can increase the risk of this type of cancer, such as smoking and having some inherited gene mutations.
Understanding your pancreas
Your pancreas is about 6 inches (15 centimeters) long and looks like a reclined pear. It releases (secretes) hormones, including insulin, to help your body process sugar from the foods you eat. And it produces digestive juices to help your body digest food and absorb nutrients.
How does pancreatic cancer occur?
Pancreatic cancer occurs when cells in your pancreas develop changes (mutations) in their DNA. A cell’s DNA contains instructions that tell a cell what to do. These mutations tell cells to grow uncontrollably and continue living after normal cells die. These accumulating cells can form a tumor. Left untreated, pancreatic cancer cells can spread to nearby organs and blood vessels and distant parts of the body.
Most pancreatic cancers start in the cells that line the ducts of the pancreas. This type of cancer is called pancreatic adenocarcinoma or pancreatic exocrine cancer. Less commonly, cancer can occur in hormone-producing cells or in neuroendocrine cells of the pancreas. These types of cancer are called pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, islet cell tumors, or pancreatic endocrine cancer.
Risk factors
Factors that can increase your risk of pancreatic cancer include:
- To smoke
- Diabetes
- Chronic inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
- Family history genetic syndromes that may increase cancer risk, including BRCA2 gene mutation, Lynch syndrome, and familial atypical mole-malignant melanoma (FAMMM) syndrome
- Family history of pancreatic cancer
- Obesity
- Older age, as most people are diagnosed after the age of 65
- A large study has shown that the combination of smoking, long-standing diabetes, and malnutrition increases the risk of pancreatic cancer beyond the risk of either of these factors alone.
Complications
ERCP procedure
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) Open pop-up dialog
As pancreatic cancer progresses, it can cause complications such as:
- Weight loss. A number of factors can cause weight loss in people with pancreatic cancer. Weight loss can occur while cancer consumes the body’s energy. Nausea and vomiting caused by cancer treatments, or a tumor pressing on your stomach can make it difficult to eat. Or your body may have difficulty processing nutrients from food because your pancreas is not producing enough digestive juices.
- Jaundice. Pancreatic cancer that blocks the bile duct of the liver can cause jaundice. Symptoms include yellow skin and eyes, dark urine, and pale colored stools. Jaundice usually occurs without abdominal pain.
- Your doctor may recommend that a plastic or metal tube (stent) be placed inside the bile duct to keep it open. This is done with the help of a procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). During ERCP, an endoscope is passed down your throat, down your stomach and upper part of your small intestine. A dye is then injected into the pancreas and bile ducts through a small hollow tube (catheter) that is passed through the endoscope. Finally the images of the channels
