Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms
Many people have learned about the pancreatic cancer symptoms that generally spread later. So it is essential to know the early signs or symptoms of pancreatic disease. Pancreatic Cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, and very few cases are diagnosed in its early stages.
The pancreas is a gland that sits behind the stomach and produces chemicals that aid digestion. It also produces insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. Pancreatic Cancer develops when cells in the pancreas start growing abnormally and form a tumor.
One of the most common symptoms of this type of Cancer is a jaundice yellowing of skin, eyes, and mucus membranes due to the high bilirubin level when it spreads in the liver. But this symptom does not always show the presence of pancreatic cancer.
Other symptoms that may show for the early stage of the pancreatic disease are:-
Nausea or vomiting Weight loss Pain in upper abdomen Swelling or pain in the lower abdomen
Pancreatitis Symptoms:
Symptoms of pancreatitis depend on whether it is acute or chronic and how severe the condition is. Pancreatitis leads to inflammation of the pancreas due to gallstones, alcohol abuse, chronic infections, etc.
Chronic pancreatitis can lead to diabetes because of the destruction of insulin-producing cells by this disease. It results in abdominal pain, which comes and goes but becomes acute when attacks occur more frequently. Jaundice may occur if bile ducts get inflamed and blocked and start leaking into the pancreas.
Bowel obstruction:
The obstruction occurs by the blood clots that develop in the bile ducts. It leads to sudden onset of severe pain, nausea, and vomiting. The patients may not eat any solid foods, leading to further blockage. This symptom indicates a painful condition that needs proper treatment early.
To determine whether it is causing bowel obstruction, doctors do an endoscopy to look inside the gastrointestinal tract for obstructions or any other causes of bleeding. They also will look for pancreatic cancer cells in biopsy if they suspect the patient to have this disease.
Abdominal swelling:
One of the main symptoms of pancreatic cancer is rapidly progressive abdomen swelling. In some cases, this sudden onset of abdominal pain and swelling can be caused by a blockage in a bile duct.
Blockage due to gallstones or tumors which may compress the bile ducts. This causes pancreatitis resulting in abdominal pain and swelling along with jaundice.
Diarrhea:
The other symptom of pancreatic cancer is diarrhea, mainly if it spreads to the intestine from the pancreas, where it starts growing abnormally. It is another severe symptom of this disease, leading to weight loss, malnutrition, and dehydration. Hence proper treatment should begin at an early stage.
Treatment for pancreatic Cancer must be started early before the disease spreads from the pancreas to the liver. Treatment may include removing the tumor followed by chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or combining these. It is vital to diagnose pancreatic Cancer as early cancelable so that treatment can be started early, leading to a higher cure rate for this disease.
Chemotherapy:
Chemotherapy involves using powerful enough drugs to destroy cancer cells but not harmful enough to destroy healthy cells. This type of treatment works best if started before the spread occurs because it targets blood vessels feeding nutrients and oxygen required for the survival of cancer cells. This results in slowing down the growth of the cancer cell, making them vulnerable to radiation therapy.
Radiation Therapy:
The other treatment modality for this disease is Radiation Therapy, where high-energy rays directed at affected tissues and cells are used to treat Cancer. This treatment is effective early before the tumor spreads to local lymph nodes and the liver.
Surgical options:
Another treatment modality for pancreatic cancer is surgery cancer; the tumor and part of the pancreas are removed by surgical operation. The surgeon may also look inside the abdomen to see any other tumors to get rid of them.
Risk factors:
Some of the significant risk factors that increase the chances of developing pancreatic Cancer are smokincancerbetes, obesity, old age, family history of this disease, etc. A person who has these risk factors should regularly check their blood sugar levels to prevent complications that may lead to pancreatic cancer.
symptoms cancercreatic cancer stage 1:
1. pain in the upper abdomen or back, between the shoulder blades
2. nausea and vomiting
3. jaundice(yellowing of the skin)symptom early pancreatic Cancer
4. loss of appetite symptom pancreatic cancer stage 1
Pancreatic Cancer is a malignancy arising from the pancreas, also known as pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The disease starts insidiously and is diagnosed at an advanced stage, often resulting in low survival rates.
Pancreatic Cancer has a poor prognosis because most patients are diagnosed with late pancreatic Cancer due to a lack of early detection symptoms. Symptoms of pain may be associated with:- abdominal bloating, indigestion, back pain, constipation/diarrhea, hemorrhoids.
Symptoms related to jaundice include:
yellow discoloration of the eyeballs and skin. Some people may have no symptoms in the early stages because there’s no mass within the pancreas, just a few abnormal cells that haven’t spread outside. It is recommended to consult with your doctor when you have persistent abdominal discomfort or after eating fatty foods or consuming alcohol.
Symptomatic(with symptoms) of pancreatic cancer stage 1 is divided into three categories:
1. Stage 1A – it means a tumor less than 2 centimeters located in the head of the pancreas and has not spread beyond the organ itself. It is important to note that early detection of pancreatic cancer can significantly help cancer survival, so patients with recurrent abdominal pain, primarily related to eating fatty foods or alcohol, should immediately go for screening tests.
In this case, the following tests are recommended:- CT scan, PET-CT scan, MRI scan, abdominal ultrasound test, fiberoptic endoscopic examination, blood tests for tumor marker CA 19-9, etc.
2. Stage 1B refers to a tumor between 2 to 4 centimeters in size; in this case, it may not be able to spread outside the pancreas but has spread into nearby areas.
3. Stage 1C refers to greater than 5 centimeters or a large tumor. Stage 1C doesn’t affect the patient’s survival rate since the cancer is still localized. Still, patients with stage 1c pancreatic Cancer can develop distant metastasis(spreading) and worse outcomes than other locations.
These people also receive regular, sensitive tests for detecting pancreatic Cancer early be cancer symptoms start appearing. This early detection of pancreatic Cancer can help cancel the patient’s survival.
Symptoms related to pain may be associated with:
abdominal bloating, indigestion, back pain, constipation/diarrhea, hemorrhoids. Symptoms related to jaundice include:- yellow discoloration of the eyeballs and skin.
Some people may have no symptoms at all in the early stages because there’s no mass within the pancreas, just a few abnormal cells that haven’t spread outside(it is recommended to consult with your doctor when you have persistent abdominal discomfort or if it occurs after eating fatty foods or after consuming alcohol.)
symptoms of pancreas problems:
1. chronic indigestion(difficulty digesting food)
2. bloating and abdominal pain after meals
3. persistent diarrhea, constipation, or alternating between the two symptoms
4. unusual weakness and lack of energy
5. jaundice (yellowing of eyes and skin) symptoms early pancreatic cancer stage 1 . jaundice is common in patients with liver disease, hepatitis, or gallbladder problems but may also be a symptom of pancreatic Cancer; yellow discoloration of the eyeballs and skin can occur due to bile duct obstruction by tumor cells of pancreatic cancer-causing obstructive jaundice which is an enlargement of the bile ducts within the pancreas that leads to an overproduction of bile by the liver which is eventually excreted through the intestines,
Loss of appetite is another symptom related to pancreatic cancer in stage 1cancerht loss without trying is another sign of early pancreatic Cancer in stage 1 when it spreads outside the pancreas(metastasis). Still, when it occurs within the organ itself, the patient may have no weight loss even though there’s a tumor growing inside; this loss mainly occurs if there is metastasis to lymph nodes or other organs, including liver and bone.
Stomach fullness after eating due to stomach ulcer or gastroparesis can also be a symptom associated with pancreatic cancer, especially if you have one of these conditions and then start consuming fatty foods or alcohol and feel bloating and abdominal pain.