Pancreatic cancer, symptoms and treatment

Introduction
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth cause of cancer death in industrialized countries. It affects more men in general over the age of 50 years.
It affects almost always part of the gland that secretes digestive enzymes.
This is a very serious tumor whose chances of recovery are low because usually when symptoms appear, the tumor was already advanced, not eradicate.
Often, indeed, the tumor has already formed metastases in the lymph nodes or the liver or other organs.


Symptoms
Unfortunately, pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed when it is already at an advanced stage.
However, the possibility of total resection of pancreatic cancer now include early diagnosis. This early diagnosis can be achieved by selecting patients with known high risk of developing this disease, as patients with chronic pancreatitis or diabetes for example.
The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are still unusual and occur most frequently by:
weight loss and appetite,
Acute back pain,
dark urine,
colored stools,
superficial phlebitis or thrombosis,
a depression,
jaundice or jaundice when there is compression of the bile ducts.


Risk factors
Smoking is certainly a risk factor, smokers are much more affected than non-smokers.
In countries where the diet is high in fat, the incidence of pancreatic cancer is higher.
Coffee and alcohol are also implicated but the current data do not mean to establish a direct relationship with pancreatic cancer.
Finally, people with chronic pancreatitis have a high risk of developing this cancer.


Diagnosis
The diagnosis must be made ??at an early stage, and the classification is based on staging.
Imaging techniques have become essential with:
ultrasound,
CT or MRI
endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography.
These have greatly improved the visualization of vascular invasion, a major element of operability or not.
The scanner also provides sensitivity in addition to the location of the tumor, its staging


Treatment 
Surgical removal of the tumor is the only chance of cure for the disease where the tumor is confined to the pancreas, this procedure does, however, that 25% of patients.

The procedure involves removal of part of the stomach, gall bladder, part of the biliary tract, head of the pancreas and the entire duodenum.

Most patients whose tumor is advanced jaundice or jaundice due to compression of the bile ducts. If the tumor compresses the duodenum also, it can make difficult the passage of the bolus in the gut. Surgery in these cases can relieve the patient by performing biliary bypass or stomach directly into the small intestine.


1. The treatment of locally advanced or metastatic cancers
Chemotherapy

Very few products of chemotherapy showed effective anti-tumor activity when used in mono-chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer is known to be chemo-resistant. Some molecules such as Gemcitabine or Docetaxel is increasingly used.
In terms of poly-chemotherapy, a few new combinations but recent assessment provides hope.
Chemotherapy aims to improve the quality of life by reducing symptoms associated with the disease.

Radio-chemotherapy

The combination of concomitant radio-chemotherapy is often used in locally advanced non-operable but not metastatic.


2. Adjuvant treatment
The effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery has not yet been demonstrated.
The post-operative radiotherapy plus or minus associated with concomitant chemotherapy potentiation is often used in high-risk forms.
Radiotherapy reduces the abdominal pain experienced by many patients but it is much more effective than injection of analgesics.
In conclusion, the conventional medical treatment retains an even limited support for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Clinical research is active in this area.


[ source ]