More than 56,700 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer like the “Jeopardy” host this year — and their odds often aren’t good.
This form of cancer is the third deadliest in the U.S., and is expected to kill approximately 45,750 Americans this year because it is so difficult to detect early.
What is it? The pancreas is a small gland in the abdomen that’s tucked between the stomach and the intestines, which is made up of exocrine cells that help digest food, and endocrine cells that make hormones like insulin that control blood sugar, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s site explains. Cancer occurs when some cells stop working correctly and grow out of control, forming tumors.
What are these vague symptoms? While there are no definitive early warning signs for pancreatic cancer, Memorial Sloan Kettering notes that patients have reported symptoms such as:What are the risk factors? Smoking and/or tobacco use is one of the biggest risk factors, with cigarette smokers diagnosed with pancreatic cancer twice as often as nonsmokers.
How is it treated? Only 15% to 20% of pancreatic cancer patients are candidates for surgery because it is usually diagnosed only after it has spread. Plus, again, the pancreas is in a tricky location surrounded by major blood vessels, the bile duct and the intestine, which make it hard to operate on. Memorial Sloan Kettering’s oncologists perform 200 to 300 pancreatic cancer surgeries a year.
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