Pancreas Carcinoma Research Paper

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

This year, an estimate of 53,070 adults, have been or will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. (27,670 men and 25,400 women). Pancreatic cancer is the ninth most common cancer in women. Pancreatic cancer should have the most attention because doctors still don’t know how to diagnose this type of cancer yet. The main problem is cost-effective screening tests that easily and reliably find early-stages of pancreatic cancer in people, sometimes show no symptoms.Often “times it is” not found until later stages when the cancer can no longer be surgically removed and has spread from the pancreas to other parts of the body. ("Pancreatic Cancer: Statistics", 2017)

The indications of pancreatic adenocarcinoma don't generally show up in the disease's initial stages and are individually not different to the illness. The indications at diagnosis shift as per the area of the tumor in the pancreas, which anatomists divide into the thick head, the neck, and the decreasing body, finishing in the tail. Despite a tumor's area, the most

In the biopsy, the doctor will remove a piece of tissue from the pancreas. A pathologist then examines the tissue sample under a microscope to check for cancer cells.

Pancreatic Cancer is currently one of the deadliest cancers in the world. In the United States alone, Pancreatic Cancer was the fourth leading cause of death among males and third in females causing 19,480 and 24,530 deaths respectively (Siegel et al., 2013). It has a five year survival rate of less than three percent in the United States (Siegel et al., 2013). This is mainly due to late diagnosis, surgical difficulties, aggressive metastases and resistance to apoptosis (Li et al., 2014). Surgical intervention has been seen as the most effective form of treatment for pancreatic tumors but due to late detection, surgical options become difficult to pursue. As a result, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy are the main routes of treatment for patients (Li et al., 2014). Unfortunately not only are these routes very low in efficacy (Li et al., 2014), but have incredibly devastating side effects on the body and the overall quality of life of patients (Love et al., 2006).

Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) of the pancreas is a rare cystic tumor that is endocrine in origin, therefore, typically found in the head and/or body of the pancreas. SPN constitutes about 1% of all pancreatic neoplasms, but advancements in diagnostic imaging have led to an increase in findings. Patients with SPN are usually asymptomatic and those with symptoms report generalized abdominal discomfort. Lab values used to evaluate the pancreas are usually within normal limits. Because these neoplasms are typically asymptomatic they grow undetected and masses in the head will produce symptoms associated with obstruction and pancreatitis.

The patient charts and radiologic images will advise the physician in the status of the cyst in addition to changes in symptoms being experienced by the patient. Pancreatic cysts that present high risk stigmata should be considered for resection if patient is medically fit for surgery. The surgical pathology specifies their diagnosis post operation.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is the most common malignant tumor of the pancreas, accounting for about 85-90% of all pancreatic tumors and is the fourth most common cause of cancer death worldwide [1]. The remaining 10-15% of pancreatic tumors are a heterogeneous group of pancreatic neoplasms that includes cystic pancreatic neoplasms, endocrine tumors and other uncommon pancreatic tumors. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is reliable for the characterization of solid and cystic pancreatic lesions. Due to the excellent soft tissue contrast, MRI is able to readily separate cystic from noncystic tumors. Cystic tumors are frequently easier to diagnose since they often possess typical imaging findings that permit an accurate and reliable

The doctor may also take a blood test to determine if the jaundice is due to pancreatic cancer or liver disease. (Panno) Once the patient is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, they can choose from different treatment plans. When determining the person’s treatment plan, they take consider their age and expected lifespan, other serious health conditions, the stage of the cancer, if surgery can remove cancer, likelihood of curing the cancer, and how the person feels about side effects. For many patients, the part that most important is the controlling of pain. Some treatments for the cancer include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and other drugs. (Treating) Treating pancreatic cancer is very difficult due to the dense outer shell around the pancreatic tumor and nearly impossible to penetrate with cancer-killing drugs. “Wall is so tough that clinical trials with medications that are experimental designed to breach barrier had to be abandoned mainstream, drug so harsh they sicken already ailing patients,” said Doctor Abram Handly-Santana, a researcher who specializes in pancreatic cancer. (Ricks) Even though treating pancreatic cancer is difficult, some doctor decide to perform surgery to determine if the tumor is removeable and to determine the staging of the cancer to prescribe the best treatment. (Panno) The best

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

The client’s main diagnosis is Pancreatic Cancer in May of 2012. He has an inoperable

A histologically confirmed metastasis in the absence of a detectable primary cancer (after investigation) is termed cancer of unknown primary or CUP (1). CUP comprises 2-6% of all malignancies (1), and is generally divided further based on the site of the metastasis and prognosis (2). Most cases are carcinomas with adenocarcinomas (undifferentiated to well differentiated) accounting for 90%, squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) making up 5% and undifferentiated neoplasm accounting for the remainder (3). In post-mortem studies, the primary tumor was discovered in 73% of patients with the most common site being: lung (27%), pancreas (24%), liver or bile duct (8%), kidney or adrenals (8%), colon or rectum (7%), genital system (7%), and stomach (6%)

However, unlike in other cancers, this has not resulted in a similar increase in effective targeted treatment options that are available in the clinic. In fact, the mainstay of pancreatic cancer remains largely conventional and includes surgery for the minority of patients who are diagnosed with resectable disease, and cytotoxic therapy (3-5).

Pancreatic cancer has been studied many times. Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma(PDAC) is a pancreatic cancer and it is the third most leading cause of death by cancer in the world. Many studies and experiments have been done to improve the poor long-time survival rate of this disease. These studies show that a mutation in KRAS show up in many cases of pancreatic cancer. KRAS is what regulates proliferation, differentiation, metabolism, and survival. Being that KRAS has been confirmed in studies of animals that it is an initiation in cancer cells, it is a great therapeutic target. But these attempts to create something to affect the initiation of pancreatic cancer have been hindered in many ways. Scientists have been looking into how greatly

In August 2009 M.W. a 56 year old female, was diagnosed with a stage II-B adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head, ductal type, with perinueral invasion, with two of nine lymph nodes involved by direct extension and positive margin. Shortly after diagnosis, she received the Whipple procedure followed by treatment with gemcitabine and 5FU chemoradiation. She was diagnosed later with a regional cancer recurrence in the retro portal space nestled between the portal vein, the inferior vena cava, the superior mesenteric artery, and the left renal vein. It is possible this recurrence was nodal in origin rather than in the autonomic neural sheath surrounding the artery which is the typical region of recurrence. Subsequently, she was treated with six cycles of Folifirinox with 5FU adjuvant followed by an additional four cycles ending in May of 2012. Following this treatment, a CT scan showed improvement of her disease. A few months later she received a partial cycle of Abraxane with Gemcitabine. In the first few months of 2014, she was enrolled in a