LIVER CONDITIONS

Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer accounts for two percent of all cancer deaths and is usually seen in people over the age of 50. The vast majority of patients have no associated risk factors (in other words no factors that increase the risk of getting the cancer) but in a few a history of heavy alcohol intake and the occurrence of chronic pancreatitis are risk factors. The cancer is named after which part of the pancreas it affects and there are three distinct areas that the pancreas is divided into, the head (the commonest site for cancer to occur), the body and the tail. There may be no early symptoms but as with most cancers of the HPB system jaundice, itching, weight loss for no known reason (not actively dieting), profound tiredness, abdominal bloating especially after meals and abdominal pain are all symptoms that can be associated with pancreatic cancer. As with most HPB cancers the problem is that these symptoms can occur relatively late in the progression of the disease and treatment is more effective the earlier you commence it. All known pancreatic cancers should be referred to a surgeon that specialises in HPB surgery as complex surgical procedures are required to remove these cancers. If surgery is not an option due to the cancer spreading into the surrounding structures then specialist oncologists are needed to deal with the symptoms of disease progression.