Essay On Pancreatic Cancer

According to Professor John Neoptolemos, "There are approximately 7,000 new cases each year - but it is one of the most lethal cancers." The main reason for the low survival rate from pancreatic cancer is due to its difficulty in finding this cancer early. By the time a person has symptoms, the cancer has often reached a large size and spread to other organs. Because the pancreas is deep inside the body, the doctor cannot see or feel tumors during a routine physical exam. There are currently no blood tests or other tests that can easily find this cancer early in people without symptoms. Tests for certain genes in people with a family history of the disease can help tell if they are at higher risk for cancer. There are some new tests for finding pancreatic cancer early in people with a strong family history of the disease, but these tests are complicated and expensive. Some symptoms of pancreatic cancer include jaundice, a yellow color of the eyes and skin caused by a substance buildup in the liver, pain in the belly area or in the middle of the back, significant weight loss over a number of months, loss of appetite, digestive problems including nausea, vomiting, pain that tends to be worse after eating, a swollen gallbladder that is enlarged, blood clots that form in the veins or cause problems with fatty tissue under the skin, and diabetes. If the doctor has any reason to suspect pancreatic cancer, certain tests will be done to see if the disease is really

Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a type of cancer that develops slowly over many years. Most frequently, stomach cancer starts in the lining of the stomach otherwise knows as the mucosa, and then develops into the other layers of the stomach. There are many ways in which stomach cancer spreads. In some cases it invades near by organs or it can also travel through the bloodstream to for cancer in other organs. There are many statistics and organizations of support for stomach cancer, as well as, symptoms, risk factors, screening and diagnosis’ and, treatments. Like all cancers, stomach cancer is a deathly disease and one of the major leading causes of cancer deaths in countries other than the U.S.

1. Describe the anatomic location of the pancreas relative to the other organs in the upper portion of the abdominal cavity. - The pancreas is about 6 inches long and sits across the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach and liver, leveled with the top of the small intestine and it also borders the liver, spleen and kidneys. The head of the pancreas is on the right side of the abdomen and is connected to the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine) through a small tube called the pancreatic duct. The narrow end of the pancreas, called the tail, extends to the left side of the body.

When spreading through the body there are certain stages the cancer has to go through to expand. Stage 0. There is no spread.The cancer is limited to only one cell in the pancreas. Stage I: The cancer is only limited to the pancreas cell, but has moved at least two centimeters. Not yet visible in screening tests. Stage II: The cancer has grown outside the pancreas and may have spread to the lymph nodes. Stage III: The tumor has spread drastically making it now possible for the tests to detect the tumor,increasing the possibility for it expand into the blood vessels or nerves. Stage IV: The cancer has spread to different organs of the body.("Pancreatic Cancer Treatments by Stage") The first place to attack after spreading would be the stomach, then it would expand to the liver. After the cancer reaches these points, it travels to other places in the body. ("Treating Pancreatic Cancer, Based on Extent of the Cancer").

There are not many defined risk factors known for pancreatic cancer. Some risk factors are “family history of the disease, smoking, age, and diabetes (Mayoclinic).” Ideally, pancreatic cancer cells can be detected early and the patient can be treated surgically, but once the cancer has spread, it is usually incurable. A popular clinical tool used to detect pancreatic cancer “is a tumor marker called sialylated Lewis blood group antigen CA19–9, which can act as a sensitive tumor marker, value diminishes when used to detect small, resectable tumors (Maitra,

There are over 100 types of cancer. One type is called colon cancer, a very common disease in the lower part of the digestive system. Colon cancer is luckily very treatable if caught early, but because it is so common it is the second leading cause of death from cancer. About 140,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with colon cancer every year.

Pancreatic cancer is the cancer that appears quickly and many die just as quick. Pancreatic cancer is the least known cancer to the medical world; puzzling doctors because most are not sure what diagnosis to look for. However, the risk factors include smoking, diabetes, and obesity. Studies show that pancreatic cancer has a higher percentage in the African American community due to environmental risk factors (John Hopkins Pathology, 2012).

Pancreatic Cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Currently there is no cure for this cancer and all available treatments simply prolong the life of the patient. Diagnosing pancreatic cancer rarely occurs at the onset of the disease due to the location of the pancreas in the body. Symptoms such as weight loss and upper abdominal pain do not show up until it is too late. Enzymes produced by tumors known as tumor markers are not reliable until the disease has well progressed. Once you have been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer there are different types of treatments that are offered to prolong your life.

Abdominal ultrasound is sometimes used for quick and cheap first examinations. If there is uncertainty about the diagnosis they may do a biopsy by fine needle aspiration. Pancreatic cancer is usually staged after a ct scan is done. The staging system is four stages,from early to advanced and based on TNM classification.TNM stands for Tumor size, spread to lymph nodes,and metastasis. Based on if surgical removal seems possible,the tumors are divided into three broader categories to help decide treatment. Tumors are resectable, borderline resectable or undetectable. If the disease is still in an early stage(stage 1 or 2) surgical resection of the tumor can be performed. Stage 3 tumors can be borderline resectable where surgery can technically still be done or unresectable where its to locally advanced. Stage 1 cancer is only found in the pancreas. Stage 1 is divided into a and b stages based on tumor size. Stage 1a is when the tumor is no bigger than 2 cm. Stage 1b is when the tumor is bigger than 2 cm. The second stage is when the cancer could have spread to nearby tissue and organs, and may have also spread to the lymph nodes near the

It is worth noting that Ms. [Name] is requiring a substantial amounts of pain medication. She was discharged from [Place] 2 months ago, on a fentanyl patch (100 mcg) and Dilaudid 20 mg p.o. q.4-6 for pain. She now has be able to taper down to 12 mg every 6 hours of Dilaudid while maintaining the fentanyl patch. This is certainly a substantial amounts of medication and is 1 of the reasons to prompt referral a to Dr. [Name]. It may seem that the total pancreatectomy is a significant intervention at this point in time, but after accomplishing a pancreatic drainage and _____(trying) pancreatic rest, there is not much more that we can do. The only other alternative would be to put her into a chronic pain management type

Major outcomes for Mr. C would include managing activities of daily living effectively, decreasing his pain level and notifying members of the heath care team prior to his pain level becoming unmanageable. He will be able to report that the pain management regimen is acceptable using the numeric scale. Mr. C will use non-pharmacological methods to help achieve comfort, recognize early signs and symptoms of pancreatitis exacerbation and cutback alcohol consumption or preferably alcohol cessation (Urden, Linda D; Stacy, Kathleen M; Lough, Mary E;, 2016).

The pancreas is an organ mainly involved in process as digestions and the synthesis of hormones, and as all the others tissues in our body, it can develop cancer. Actually, pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer, either because of the symptoms that only appears at a late stage of the disease, the hard diagnosis and the high chances of metastasis.The symptoms associated with the pancreatic cancer are not specific, such lack of appetite, abdominal ache and weight loss. The diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is hard because the pancreas is located in not favorable position for exams to scan and detect its presence. Pancreatic cancer can also metastasize to other tissues, but mainly to liver tissues and it actually happens before

Pancreatic cancer occurs when build up of cancerous cells develop within the tissues of the pancreas. The build up of those cells can go on undetected for quite some time before pain or any symptoms show themselves. Also some of the pains can be mistaken for symptoms of some other less severe conditions. The pancreas is the organ that produces digestive juices and hormones that regulate blood sugar. Cells called exocrine pancreas cells produce the digestive juices, while cells called endocrine pancreas cells produce the hormones. The majority of pancreatic cancers start in the exocrine cells (WebMD, 2015). Pancreatic cancer is the cause of the 4th most cancer deaths in the United States of American with a median of six or less months and a 5-year survival rate of 4.6% (Sarkar, 2007). That’s something that was news to me but pancreatic cancer is only behind lung and bronchial cancer, colon and rectal cancer, and breast cancer.

Surgery is the oldest type of treatment for cancer. In its earlier use, surgery was not as successful as it is today. This was due to the difficulties involved with the anesthesias, excessive blood loss,

Sometimes, if a malignant tumor hasn’t spread, then they will surgically remove it. Another method is the use of Chemotherapy, which uses drugs to kill cancer cells. They are given the drugs through an IV and radiation therapy is sometimes also used to further kill the cancer cells. Radio therapy is the use of high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. Treatment is 5 times a week and takes 45 minutes for 2-5 weeks. If surgery is used to treat the cancer then if the tumor is in the head of the pancreas, then they remove the right half of the pancreas and part of the stomach and small intestine. This is a long and complicated surgery and takes 6-8 hours. After surgery, patients can’t return to their regular activities until over 2 months after the operation. Also a small feeding tube called a jejunostomy tube or j-tube is placed into the small intestine. A high-calorie liquid is fed directly into your intestine through the j-tube. A second tube is added in the stomach called a gastrostomy tube or G-tube. This helps avoid nausea and vomiting after