Pancreatic Cancer Literature Review Essay

I am a lucky yet unlucky man. They call it PanCan, short for Pancreatic Cancer, there are many stages I must say yet there are relatively 20% survival rate and to get to live up to five years? 6% chance. The larger my tumor gets the less likely it’ll be cured. They give me 2 years top, if I am lucky; but I’ve learned to cope with the cancer. You see even people who have 3-5 cm appear to have been cured by surgery, I have hope. On a daily basis I find myself struggling with daily activities, changes in appearances and even anxiety of the future, and on top of all that, I am constantly anxious about treatment and if it will work. Pancreatic Cancer is cruel and ruthless, it will devour one’s

Pancreatic Cancer is cancer of an organ in the human body called the pancreas, which is located behind the lower part of the stomach. The function of this organ is to secrete certain essential enzymes to digest food and also secrete hormones to metabolize sugars such as insulin and glucagon (Mayoclinic). People get pancreatic cancer when the cells of the pancreas develop genetic mutations; and these can form in both the exocrine and endocrine cells of the pancreas, but exocrine tumors are more common than endocrine tumors. Because this cancer spreads very quickly throughout the body and the symptoms of the disease don’t usually appear until the cancer is at an advanced stage, it is a leading cause of death

CA 19-9 is a type of tumor marker for pancreatic cancer. It mostly used to help in differentiating between pancreatic cancer and other conditions which include pancreatitis, monitor, to monitor patient’s response to the treatment of pancreatic cancer or cancer progression and to watch for the recurrence of pancreatic cancer (Hui et al., 2015).

The indications of pancreatic adenocarcinoma don't generally show up in the disease's initial stages and are individually not different to the illness. The indications at diagnosis shift as per the area of the tumor in the pancreas, which anatomists divide into the thick head, the neck, and the decreasing body, finishing in the tail. Despite a tumor's area, the most

"Cancer of the pancreas is a genetic disease that is the fifth most common cause of death in both men and women. Pancreatic cancer affects approximately 28,000 Americans each year, or five out of 100,000 people" (Mayo Clinic, 1998). According to physicians at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, "pancreatic cancer is the challenge of the twenty-first century." So, where exactly is the pancreas located in our bodies, and what does it do? The pancreas is a gland found behind the stomach that is shaped somewhat like a fish. The pancreas is about six inches long and less than two inches wide, and it extends across the abdomen. The pancreas consists of two separate glands inside the same organ, the exocrine gland and the

Diagnosis of pancreatic cancer leads to Principal Sandy Shore to declare his resignation at the Papillion-La Vista South High School graduation today.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women. It is very rare before the age of 45 years, and the majority of patients present in or beyond the sixth decade of life (Feldman et al.2010). Carcinoma arises anywhere in the pancreas. The most common frequent focus is in the head (60%), followed by the body (10%), and the tail (5%). Carcinomas of the head of the pancreas may cause biliary obstruction and jaundice by compressing the ampulla of Vater and common bile duct. They thus tend to be smaller at diagnosis than those of the body and tail and show more limited spread to regional lymph nodes and distant sites. On gross examination, pancreas carcinoma

Pancreatic pseudocyst (pp) is a localized peri-pancreatic fluid collection that results from pancreatic inflammation due to pancreatitis, trauma, or ductal obstruction due to stricture or stone [1]. The fluid is rich in pancreatic secretions that have leaked from the pancreatic ductal system [2]. They are not true cysts because they lack an epithelial lining. It is surrounded by a wall of fibrous or granulation tissue [3]. It accounts 80% of all pancreatic cysts. It complicates 2% to 10% of patients after acute pancreatitis and about 10% to 30% of patients after chronic pancreatitis [4]. The natural history usually is spontaneous resolution, with up to 85% of pseudocyts resolving within 4-6 weeks [2,5]. The two main factors determining the

The pancreas contains exocrine and endocrine functions that together allow for proper homeostasis and digestion to occur in the human body. The pancreas contains exocrine glands that produce enzymes that are crucial to aiding in digestion. The enzymes that help digest food include: trypsin and chymotrypsin, along with amylase an enzyme located in the mandibular ramus that helps digest carbohydrates, and lipase that is located posterior to the tongue, which aids in digesting lipids. When the foods enter the stomach, pancreatic juices are released from the ducts. The pancreatic duct is connected to the common bile duct which is at proximately to the location of the small intestine. There are both pancreatic juices and bile that are released from the ducts onto the

Approximately 20% of pancreatic cancer is found to be operable or resectable. The complete resection of the primary lesion is best treatment for patients with localized pancreatic cancer. However the risk of both local and distal recurrence is high in following resection. In early stage pancreatic cancer the complete resection are associated with considerable morbidity in 40–60% of patients and mortality in less than 3% of patients (Sohn et al., 2000; Winter et al., 2006). Moreover, it takes 2–3 months for complete recovery to a normal quality of life. Although the 5-year survival rate of resected pancreatic cancer is approximately 20% and the median overall survival time is 17–27 months (Winter et al., 2006).

There are many forms of cancer. Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Leukemia, and Brain Cancer just to name a few, but the one I am bringing attention to in this essay is Pancreatic Cancer. Pancreatic Cancer is a very aggressive form of cancer and it has many risky factors. Many people do not know those risky factors important information dealing with Pancreatic Cancer and I will explain a few of those important things in this essay. The American Cancer Society and the Cancer Treatment Centers of America gave me a lot of information to help write about this topic.

In October 1974 a case-control interview study was begun to evaluate the relationship of pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., to smoking, alcohol use, tea intake, and coffee consumption. The study, conducted in eleven Boston and Rhode Island hospitals, lasted until August 1979. The cases, or people already diagnosed with the illness, were 369 patients with pancreatic cancer, while the controls, or patients free from pancreatic cancer, were chosen from a group of patients hospitalized by the same doctors who diagnosed the cases’ pancreatic cancer. The results of the study revealed a relatively weak association between pancreatic cancer and alcohol, tea, and smoking, which could not be qualified as statistically

Furthermore, having an unhealthy diet provokes cancer. When explaining foods that increase the risk of cancer, the author writes, “Certain chemicals are made when red and processed meats are cooked at high temperatures, such as on a barbecue. These chemicals can damage our cells, making them more likely to become cancerous” (Diet Causing Cancer). Cooking processed meat at a high temperature can create noxious chemicals. If one consumes this type of meat, it is like he/she is smoking a cigarette. The poisonous toxins in the meat infiltrate the body and alter the structure of cells, causing the cells to be cancerous. The author goes on to declare, “Overweight or obese people have an increased risk of pancreatic cancer… because they tend to have higher insulin levels” (Diet Causing Cancer). People who have unhealthy diets are generally overweight or obese. These obese people have a higher level of insulin because their diets consist of large amounts of sugar. Insulin is created in the pancreas. When the pancreas has to “work harder” than usual to

Pancreatic cancer is currently number four in cancer related deaths for both male and female. Why is pancreatic cancer awareness not reconsidered like breast cancer (second most common deaths in women.) Pancreatic cancer kills just about or more than breast cancer.

The human body is composed of trillions of living cells. Normal body cells develop, split to make new cells, and perish in a systematized manner. During the course of a human’s primary years, they are still developing and normal cells divide more rapidly. When a child grows into an adult, majority of cells divide for the sole purpose of replacing exhausted, impaired, or dying cells. Cancer originates in cells that are part of the body that starts to grow out of control (Lockhart, Rothenberg, & Berlin 2005). There are various types of cancer, and they all develop in the body due to the exponential growth of abnormal cells. Cancer cell growth differs from normal cell growth. As an alternative of dying, cancer cells continue to grow and create new cancer cells. In a lot of cases, the cancer cells form a tumor. Cancer cells can furthermore develop into other tissues by invading, which normal cells cannot do (Lockhart et al. 2005). This is how Cancer explores to other parts of the body such as the pancreas which what I will be focusing on in this paper.