Pancreatic cancer

Overview

In some individuals the cells in the pancreas begin to multiply out of control and develop into abnormal growths such as tumors. These tumours turn cancerous resulting in pancreatic cancer. In India, there are approximately 1 million cases diagnosed each year with mortality depending on the stage of cancer when it is detected.

Causes

The exact cause of this condition has not been identified.

Symptoms

Most individuals remain asymptomatic during the early stage. Advanced stage pancreatic cancer can present as

Pain that spreads from abdomen to your back
Unexplained weight loss
Yellow discolouration on skin and eyes
Dark shade to urine
Itchiness of the skin
Recent diagnosis of diabetes or difficulty maintaining blood sugar for an existing diabetes
Loss of appetite
Blood clots
Lethargy

Risk factors

Studies show that some lifestyle choices and some diseases can exacerbate the chances of getting this disease. It causes the most risk when the following condition occurs in tandem.

Diabetes
Persistent inflammation of the pancreas
Smoking
History of genetic syndromes in your family like familial atypical mole-malignant melanoma, Lynch syndrome and BRCA2 gene mutation
Pancreatic cancer history in the family
Old age
Obesity

Diagnosis

Treatment