Carcinoma Pancreas Treatment, Symptoms, Causes & Diagnosis

What is Carcinoma Pancreas?

This disease is one of the most common kinds of cancer in the pancreas, also known as adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. This disease usually starts in the tissues of the pancreas. The pancreas is an organ in the part of the abdomen that horizontally lies behind the lower part of the stomach. Carcinoma Pancreas is a type of cancer in the pancreas, which if diagnosed early gives a really poor prediction. The pancreas in this disease has both the exocrine and endocrine functions and the cells that are cancerous can form from both types of functional cells. Most of these cancers are known as adenocarcinomas. The condition of carcinoma pancreas is very dangerous, as it develops and progresses at a very high pace and is usually diagnosed later.

This type of cancer of pancreas tends to form from those cells that help in lining the system of the ducts that give away enzymes to the small intestine and are frequently regarded as the pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Pancreatic cancer must not be confused with the word pancreatitis, which is regarded as the inflammation of the pancreas and is primarily aroused by alcohol abuse.

Symptoms

Symptoms of this disease do not really become apparent unless it has moved to an advanced stage. The symptoms include:

Pain in the upper abdomen, which may radiate to the back.
Great loss of appetite.
The skin going yellow, also a sign of jaundice.
Excessive loss of weight.
Blood clot.
Depression

Causes

The main causes of this disease include:

Mutations in the DNA.
Uncontrollable cell growth.
Smoking.
Development of a tumour.

Risks

There may be some factors that could increase the risk of one getting this disease:

Diabetes.
The excessive weight of the body.
Inflammation of the pancreas that has become chronic.
Excessive smoking.
Personal history of this kind of cancer.
Loss of weight.

Prevention

No measures of prevention have been designed so far to curb this disease, but we can take some easy measures for ourselves without the advice of doctors.
We should rigorously avoid smoking.
Take our diet in a proper manner.

How is it diagnosed?

At Medanta, diagnosis of this disease could be done by the following tests:
...

Computed tomography (CT) scan
Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
Ultrasound
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC)
Blood test

How is it treated?

If the cancer is only confined to the pancreas, following are the ways to treat it.

Distal pancreatectomy
In this operation, the surgeon removes only the tail of the pancreas or the tail and a portion of the body of the pancreas. The spleen is usually removed as well. This operation is used more often to treat pancreatic NETs found in the tail and body of the pancreas.
Chemotherapy
It makes use of X-rays to treat cancer and is either injected into a vein or orally taken. The use of it may give effective results in treating the disease.
Radiation therapy and chemotherapy in combination
If both of them are performed together in combination, they are known as chemoradiation and can be used to treat any type of cancer that has gone beyond the pancreas. This combination is used generally to reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer.

When do I contact the doctor?

You should immediately consult a doctor if you begin to face symptoms such as depression, blood clotting, loss of weight, and appetite. All these symptoms will be treated just right by our medical experts at Medanta.

Book an Appointment