One of the most dreaded forms of cancer is that which affects the pancreas, an organ found within the abdominal cavity, located just behind the stomach. The pancreas is vital organ that serves a regulatory function, that involving the control of sugar levels in the blood with the help of the enzymes insulin and glucagon (endocrine), and a digestive function (exocrine), helping in the digestion of food by secreting amylase and lipase, enzymes that breakdown starches and fats in food and converts them into more absorbable forms that the body can use.
Being an organ that plays such huge roles in the body, abnormalities in the pancreas, be it due to an anatomical defect or caused by a disease entity, would therefore present with different symptoms, all of which should be watched out for. Knowing the symptoms of pancreatic cancer helps to an extent, but in order to improve your chances of surviving the disease, prevention is still most important, and this could be done by being aware of and avoiding the things that can predispose us to having this type of cancer. These risk factors are: a history of the disease in the family, a history of smoking, obesity, regular exposure to certain chemicals found in pesticides, and heavy alcohol consumption
Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease, mainly because it is poorly diagnosed. Unlike cancers that affect the breast, colon, and prostate, cancer of the pancreas is quite difficult to find with screening tests. It is a silent disease, often showing no symptoms during its early stages and when they do, chances are it’s already too late.
1. Pain
Pain associated with pancreatic cancer presents similarly to pancreatitis and is described to be a dull, boring, and steady located pain in the epigastric area that can appear suddenly and then gradually worsen, spreading directly towards the back. CT scans are used to visualize the extent of the swelling and usually comes after positive serum results for elevated amylase and lipase, enzymes that shoot up when the pancreas is inflamed.
Another cause for pain is gallbladder swelling which happens when the pancreatic tumor blocks the passage of bile through the common bile duct. As the excess bile begins to accumulate in the gall bladder, the increased volume causes it to grow in size, often causing discomfort and pain.
