Pancreatic Cancer Research Papers

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

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,

Approximately 20% of pancreatic cancer is found to be operable or resectable. The complete resection of the primary lesion is best treatment for patients with localized pancreatic cancer. However the risk of both local and distal recurrence is high in following resection. In early stage pancreatic cancer the complete resection are associated with considerable morbidity in 40–60% of patients and mortality in less than 3% of patients (Sohn et al., 2000; Winter et al., 2006). Moreover, it takes 2–3 months for complete recovery to a normal quality of life. Although the 5-year survival rate of resected pancreatic cancer is approximately 20% and the median overall survival time is 17–27 months (Winter et al., 2006).

The risk factors of pancreatic cancer are habits that most Americans have developed and can not seem to break. There are five major risk factors that people should consider which include the following; Genetics, Diabetes, Smoking, Obesity and Diet (Wax, 2012). Pancreatic cancer runs in five to ten percent of people who have immediate family members who have also had it (Wax, 2012). Different genes have been indicated as risk but no “pancreatic cancer gene” has yet been discovered (Wax, 2012). “People with diabetes develop Pancreatic cancer about twice as often then people without it” (Margolis, 2002, p.497) and the two diseases have been linked (Wax, 2012). Tobacco use is known to increase the risk of pancreatic cancer (Cancer Research UK, 2013). Smoking will double the risk in developing the disease (Wax, 2012). People, who quit smoking, can reduce the risk of pancreatic, lung, mouth, and certain other cancers and diseases. It is a known fact that people with a body mass index ( BMI) higher

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

There are many forms of cancer. Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Leukemia, and Brain Cancer just to name a few, but the one I am bringing attention to in this essay is Pancreatic Cancer. Pancreatic Cancer is a very aggressive form of cancer and it has many risky factors. Many people do not know those risky factors important information dealing with Pancreatic Cancer and I will explain a few of those important things in this essay. The American Cancer Society and the Cancer Treatment Centers of America gave me a lot of information to help write about this topic.

This is because the pancreas is located deep in the belly just in front of the spine. As time goes on these cancers cells being to grow much bigger and when they do, they start causing different symptoms depending on the location of the cancer within the pancreas, by the time symptoms are noticed, they have grown and spread throughout the body. Easily identified symptoms are formed when tumor is already large enough to press on other organs of the body, some of these symptoms might include: jaundice which is caused by buildup of bilirubin, abdominal pain which is caused as a result of the cancer pressing on nearby organs, lack of appetite and pale greasy stools resulting when fatty foods are not being digested because cancer blocked the release of pancreatic juice into the intestine. Pancreatic cancer sometimes press on the far end wall of the stomach making it partly blocked thereby making food very hard to get through resulting in Nausea and vomit. Some other symptoms that might be hard to detect include gallbladder enlargement which can only be detected by imaging test, blood cloth and fatty acid

I am a lucky yet unlucky man. They call it PanCan, short for Pancreatic Cancer, there are many stages I must say yet there are relatively 20% survival rate and to get to live up to five years? 6% chance. The larger my tumor gets the less likely it’ll be cured. They give me 2 years top, if I am lucky; but I’ve learned to cope with the cancer. You see even people who have 3-5 cm appear to have been cured by surgery, I have hope. On a daily basis I find myself struggling with daily activities, changes in appearances and even anxiety of the future, and on top of all that, I am constantly anxious about treatment and if it will work. Pancreatic Cancer is cruel and ruthless, it will devour one’s

Out of those 48,960 people, 40, 560 of those lives will be taken from the cancer. Pancreatic cancer has a very poor prognosis, mainly because this cancer spreads very quickly and is frequently diagnosed too late. Symptoms usually develop when the cancer is in its advanced stages. Signs and symptoms that may appear include upper abdominal pain, jaundice, loss of appetite, and weight loss. Pancreatic cancer occurs when there is a mutation within the cells of the pancreas. These accumulated mutated cells form a tumor. Most pancreatic cancer begins in the cells that line the ducts of the pancreas, however it can also occur in the hormone-producing cells. This type of cancer is known as islet cell cancer. Some risk factors that may increase the change of developing pancreatic cancer include diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, family history of pancreatic cancer, and

Pancreatic carcinoma (P.C) is a malignant disease of the pancreas and one of the top ten leading causes of cancer deaths in the UK. This type of cancer is one of the few which has shown a small improvement in the survival rate. On average, the age at which patients are diagnosed with such disease is at 71 years of age and with a minimum of 40 years old in rare accounts. Whilst the risk of developing such disease is greater in developed than developing countries, various factors either lifestyle factors or hereditary can metamorphose into risk factors and become cancer causing. The pathophysiology of this type of cancer is complex and involves modification of the DNA by various ways such as point mutation, indels, gene rearrangement and more. Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is difficult as it is an organ found quite deep in the body so any anomalies co go unnoticed during routine examinations. The incidence aswell as the mortality of

Other causes, such as gallstones, hepatitis, and other liver diseases, are much more common. Pain in the abdomen or back is common in pancreatic cancer. Cancers that start in the body or tail of the pancreas can grow fairly large and start to press on other nearby organs, causing pain. The cancer may also spread to the nerves surrounding the pancreas, which often causes back pain. Of course, pain in the abdomen or back is fairly common and is most often caused by something other than pancreatic cancer. Unintended weight loss is very common in people with pancreatic cancer. These people often have little or no appetite. (America Cancer Society,

According to National Cancer Institute (NCI), a government funded agency dedicated to providing information not only about research and training, but also provides programs and continuing care of cancer patients, “Pancreatic cancer, the 12th most common cancer in the United States, is relatively rare; however, it is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in both men and women in the United States.”

In this essay I’m going to discuss about a patient named Mr. Valdez who has been diagnosed of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is often not diagnosed until it is advanced because the cancer usually causes no early symptoms, leading to metastatic disease at time of diagnosis (Brown & Edwards, 2008). I am going to focus on the adverse patient events that may occur in the oncology department during the course of treatment and nursing care for Mr. Valdez, and the evidence based nursing practice to improve patient outcome. I am going to explain that health care professionals need to be aware of the factors that could affect the outcome of patient care. Unintended injuries or complications that are caused by health care