Pancreatic cancer

Question 1

What does the pancreas do, and how does cancer change the way it works?

Accepted Answer

The pancreas helps you digest food and helps control blood sugar. Cancer often starts in the part that makes digestive juices, and that can change how the pancreas works. Here's why: - The pancreas is a gland that sits behind your stomach and in front of your spine. It makes juices that break down food and hormones that help control blood sugar levels. - Pancreatic cancer usually starts in the cells that make those digestive juices. - This cancer is hard to find early. The pancreas is hidden behind other organs, so doctors cannot see or feel a tumor during a routine exam. - Doctors use a physical exam, blood tests, imaging tests, and a biopsy to check for pancreatic cancer. - Because it is often found late and can spread quickly, pancreatic cancer can be hard to treat. Care teams may use surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or targeted therapy, which attacks cancer cells while causing less harm to normal cells. Talk with your care team about your test results and your treatment options.

Question 2

What is the Whipple procedure, and what does recovery involve?

Accepted Answer

Surgery is one of several treatments doctors may use for pancreatic cancer. Other options include radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. The pancreas is a gland behind the stomach. It lies in front of the spine. It produces juices that help break down food. It also makes hormones that help control blood sugar levels. Pancreatic cancer is often hard to treat because it is usually found late. It can also spread quickly to other parts of the body. Targeted therapy uses drugs that attack cancer cells with less harm to normal cells. Ask your care team about an operation known as the Whipple procedure. They can tell you whether this type of surgery fits your situation. They can also explain what recovery would involve for you.

Question 3

What should someone newly diagnosed ask their care team about clinical trials?

Accepted Answer

For someone newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, it helps to ask about treatment choices. It also helps to ask if a clinical trial could be part of the plan. Knowing all the choices can make later decisions feel less scary. Treatment can include surgery, radiation, chemo, and targeted therapy. Targeted therapy uses drugs that attack cancer cells. It causes less harm to normal cells. Doctors usually diagnose pancreatic cancer with a physical exam, blood tests, imaging tests, and a biopsy. Pancreatic cancer is often found late. It can also spread fast, which can make it harder to treat. It helps to bring written questions to each visit. Good questions ask what each treatment involves and what test results mean. It also helps to ask if a clinical trial is an option. The care team is the right place to ask these questions. Together, you can decide which ones matter most.

Question 4

What are the main types of pancreatic cancer?

Accepted Answer

Most pancreatic cancer begins in one kind of cell in the pancreas. The pancreas is a gland behind the stomach that does two main jobs. It makes juices that help break down the food you eat. It also makes hormones that help control blood sugar levels in the body. Most pancreatic cancer begins in the cells that make these digestive juices. Doctors use several tests to learn more about a pancreatic cancer. These include a physical exam, blood tests, imaging tests, and a biopsy. A biopsy removes a small piece of tissue to study closely. Several treatment options exist for pancreatic cancer, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Another option is targeted therapy, which uses drugs that attack specific cancer cells. Targeted therapy causes less harm to normal, healthy cells than some other treatments. Your care team can explain more about the type that was found. They can also talk with you about which treatments may apply.

Question 5

What do doctors mean by 'resectable,' 'locally advanced,' and 'metastatic,' and how does this affect treatment?

Accepted Answer

Doctors check how much a pancreatic cancer has grown or spread. This can affect how hard the cancer is to treat. Pancreatic cancer is hard to catch early. It usually does not cause symptoms right away. To find how far it has spread, doctors use an exam and blood tests. They also use imaging tests and a biopsy. Pancreatic cancer is often found late and spreads quickly. This can make it hard to treat. Possible treatments include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. Targeted therapy uses drugs that attack specific cancer cells. This causes less harm to normal cells. Your care team can explain what words like these mean for a specific cancer. They can also talk through which treatment options might be considered.

Question 6

What warning signs of pancreatic cancer should people watch for, and why is it often caught late?

Accepted Answer

Pancreatic cancer is often caught late because it usually causes no symptoms early on. The pancreas sits behind your stomach, hidden by other organs. Doctors cannot see or feel a tumor there during a normal checkup. When symptoms do appear, they can be vague or easy to miss. They can include yellowing of the skin or eyes, pain in the belly or back, weight loss, and feeling very tired. To check for pancreatic cancer, doctors use a physical exam, blood tests, imaging tests, and a biopsy. Because it is often found late and spreads quickly, it can be hard to treat. Your care team will tell you what symptoms to watch for and when to call them.

Question 7

What's the difference between treatment before and after surgery?

Accepted Answer

Pancreatic cancer treatment is not just one thing — it can combine several approaches. Possible treatments include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. Targeted therapy uses drugs that attack specific cancer cells, causing less harm to normal cells. Pancreatic cancer can be hard to treat because it is often found late. It also tends to spread quickly. Because of this, your care team may use more than one treatment. They decide the timing of each treatment, before or after surgery. It helps to ask your care team to explain your treatment plan. They can tell you why it is timed that way.

Question 8

Why does pancreatic cancer sometimes cause jaundice, and how is it treated?

Accepted Answer

Pancreatic cancer can cause jaundice, or yellow skin and eyes. The pancreas is a gland behind the stomach and in front of the spine. It makes juices that help break down food, plus hormones for blood sugar. Pancreatic cancer usually begins in the cells that make these digestive juices, so jaundice is one of the symptoms that can show up with this cancer. Other symptoms include pain in the abdomen and back, weight loss, and fatigue. These symptoms are often vague, so they can be hard to notice at first. That is part of why pancreatic cancer is hard to catch early. The pancreas is also hidden behind other organs in the body. Because of this, providers cannot see or feel a tumor during a routine exam. Doctors use a physical exam, blood tests, imaging, and a biopsy to check for it. Since it is often found late and spreads quickly, it can be hard to treat. Possible treatments include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. Targeted therapy uses drugs that attack cancer cells with less harm to normal cells. Your care team can explain why jaundice is happening and which treatments may help.

10 questions to ask your care team about Pancreatic cancer

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