Pancreatic cancer is said to be one of the more rare cancers, so says the Mayo Clinic. I cannot tell, because this is the disease that took my mom from me and it seems I'm constantly hearing of someone who has been diagnosed with it. Fewer than 200,000 cases are diagnosed each year.
Pancreatic cancer is a cancer that begins in the organ lying behind the lower part of the stomach(pancreas). Pancreas secretes enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that help regulate the metabolism of sugars. This type of cancer is often detected late, and reads quickly and has a poor prognosis.
Symptoms.
A medical diagnosis is required. There are no symptoms in the early stages. Later stages are associated with symptoms, but these can be non-specific, such as lack of appetite and weight loss. Also experienced is pain the abdomen or middle back, fluid in the abdomen or nausea, body fatigue or loss of appetite, dark urine and yellow skin and eyes.
Treatment depends on the stage.
Treatment may include surgically removing the pancreas, radiation and chemotherapy. Lastly palliative care.
Specialists.
Oncologist, who is a specialist in cancer is the doctor who will diagnose the disease.
Palliative medicine, who focuses on improving the quality of life for those with severe illnesses
General surgeon.
Gastroenterologist.
Pancreatic cancer is treatable when caught early. The vast majority of cases are not diagnosed until too late. Five year survival rates approach 25% if the cancers are surgically removed while they are still small and have not spread to the lymph nodes.
As stated, this is somewhat of a rare disease, and the number of people who succumb to it is horribly high. Next week I will share the various stages of this disease.
Ninakupenda
Ilia, this dreadful disease is becoming more prevalent. Before my mom passed, I really hadn’t heard much about it but that always seems to be the case! Anyways, the best medicine is awareness so please continue spreading the word!! Enjoyed the article. See you next go round.
ReplyDeleteSo often we hear of breast cancer and I have often felt that other forms of cancer should receive equal coverage in the media as well because so many people have cancer. Our beloved mother passed from this dreadful disease and like you I'm very concerned with those who may have symptoms but are unaware of what it's really associated with.
ReplyDeleteIllia I am so sorry you lost your mom to this cancer. With todays technology you would think there would be a way to test before it becomes cancer. I just shared in Fb . They discovered that they can do blood tests that tells you 5 years earlier if you will get breast cancer, so why can't they test you for this?.
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