You may not think about your pancreas that much. This little organ sits behind your stomach and is responsible for releasing enzymes to help you digest food and control your blood sugar. It’s also the place in the body that can produce the fourth leading cause of cancer death, after breast, lung, and colorectal cancer. More than 66,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year in the US. That’s about 1 in 56 men and 1 in 60 in women. It’s unclear what causes pancreatic cancer, and it’s sneaky because you may not see any warning signs at first.
“This kind of cancer is difficult to identify,” says Sarah Sinclair, DO, oncologist, hematologist, and medical director, Northern Light Cancer Care. “Often patients with early-stage pancreatic cancers will not have any signs or symptoms and therefore detection is usually at late stages when the cancer has spread outside the pancreas and a cure is unlikely. Even If detected early, the five-year survival rate is less than 40 percent.”
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer may include nausea, vomiting, bloating, weight loss or poor appetite, blood clots, pain in the abdomen that wraps around the back, dark urine or light-colored stools, and itchy skin.
Pancreatic cancer is usually found through imaging such as ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, endoscopic ultrasound; biopsy; and other techniques.
Like most cancers, a healthy lifestyle can decrease your risk of developing pancreatic cancer, such as stopping smoking, cutting back on excessive alcohol use, and maintaining a healthy weight. If there is a family history of the disease, genetic testing may be appropriate, which can show inherited genes that may increase pancreatic cancer risk.
Talk to your primary care provider about cancer risk factors and keep up with annual check-ups. To learn more about pancreatic cancer, visit the American Cancer Society’s website, cancer.org.