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Pancreatic Cancer
Symptom |
Pancreatic Cancer Information
Pancreatic Cancer
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Pancreatic cancer (also
called cancer of the pancreas) is
represented by the growth of a malignant tumor within the
pancreas organ proper. The
most common form of pancreatic cancer is known as adenocarcinoma of the
pancreas. A less
common, and typically far less virulent form
of pancreatic cancer, is called islet-cell tumor (and is sometimes also known by the
term neuro-endocrine tumor).
Diagnosis and Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is
difficult because the symptoms are
non-specific and vary often. Common symptoms
of pancreatic cancer include:
It is important to note that all
of these symptoms are not necessarily exclusive to
pancreatic cancer. Each can be a sign of many
varying diseases. However, if you suspect these
signs as pancreatic cancer symptoms, it would be
pertinent to contact a health care physician.
Patients diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer typically have a poor prognosis. This is not
a result of the cancer being more virulent than
other cancers, but rather because
pancreatic cancer
symptoms do not tend to present until later in the
progress of the disease. Usually pancreatic cancer
causes no symptoms early on and patients thus do not
seek early medical intervention.
By: The Medical Symptoms Database
The Relationship
Between Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer
Feng Wang1 , Margery Herrington1 ,2 , Jörgen
Larsson1 and Johan Permert1
1Surgery Department, Karolinska Institute
at Huddinge University Hospital, 141 86 Stockholm,
Sweden,
2Department of Biology, Adams State
College, Alamosa, CO 81102, USA
Molecular Cancer 2003, 2:4 doi:10.1186/1476-4598-2-4
© 2003 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and
redistribution of this article are permitted in all
media for any purpose, provided this notice is
preserved along with the article's original URL.
About 80% of
pancreatic cancer patients have
glucose intolerance
or frank diabetes.
This observation has led to the following two
hypotheses: i. pancreatic cancer
causes the associated diabetes and ii. the
conditions associated with
diabetes promote
the development of pancreatic cancer.
Evidence supporting both hypotheses has been
accumulated in previous studies. This article
reviews these studies, especially those that have
been conducted recently.
Review
The early symptoms of pancreatic
cancer, such as abdominal pain,
weight loss,
fatigue, jaundice, and nausea, are nonspecific and
may occur late in the course of the disease [1,2].
As a result, pancreatic cancer is usually diagnosed
at an advanced stage, frequently after the tumor has
already metastasized. Pancreatic cancer is
insensitive to pharmacological and radiological
intervention and often recurs after apparently
curative surgery. All these factors contribute to
the dismal prognosis of the disease [3].
About 80% of pancreatic cancer
patients have glucose intolerance or frank diabetes
[4,5]. This
observation has led to the following two hypotheses:
i. pancreatic cancer causes
diabetes and
ii. diabetes is a risk factor for the
development of pancreatic cancer. Numerous studies
have been performed in order to elucidate the
relationship between these two diseases.
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Evidence suggesting that
pancreatic cancer
causes diabetes
(Details)
Evidence for
diabetes as a risk factor for
pancreatic cancer
(Details)
Conclusion
Recent studies indicate that there is
no simple answer to the question of which of the two
hypotheses stated at the beginning of this review is
right. However, it appears that these hypotheses are
not mutually exclusive, since
there is considerable
experimental and epidemiological evidence in support
of both of them. Clearly, the relationships between
pancreatic cancer and alterations in glucose
metabolism are very complex.
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Author's
Contribution
This article was drafted by WF and MH
and revised by JL and JP. All authors read and
approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgement
Our research discussed in this
article was supported by grants from the Swedish
Research Council, the Swedish Medical Research
Council, and the Swedish Cancer Society.
Resources
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1. |
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Nix GA, Schmitz
PI, Wilson JH, van Blankenstein M, Groeneveld
CF, Hofwijk R: Carcinoma of the head of the
pancreas. Therapeutic implications of
endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
findings.
Gastroenterology 1984, 87:37-43. |
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citation in text: [1] |
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2. |
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Gullo L,
Tomassetti P, Migliori M, Casadei R, Marrano
D: Do early symptoms of pancreatic cancer
exist that can allow an earlier diagnosis?
Pancreas 2001, 22:210-213.
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3. |
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Gudjonsson B: Cancer of the pancreas. 50 years of surgery.
Cancer 1987, 60:2284-2303.
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citation in text: [1] |
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4. |
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Permert J, Ihse
I, Jorfeldt L, von Schenck H, Arnqvist HJ,
Larsson J: Pancreatic cancer is associated
with impaired glucose metabolism.
Eur J Surg 1993, 159:101-107.
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Schwarts SS,
Zeidler A, Moossa AR, Kuku SF, Rubenstein AH: A prospective study of glucose tolerance,
insulin, C-peptide, and glucagon responses in
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Dig Dis 1978, 23:1107-1114.
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