Signs & Symptoms

Possible Issues and Causes

 

Pancreatic Cancer is the number “4” cancer killer in the US and the only one of the four that does not have a known cure. The lack of early detection methods and research continues to slow progress towards a cure. There is no known cure for this deadly disease and over 42,400 people – 116 + per day are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year. In the last 5 years more than 210,000 people have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and over 90% of those individuals have passed away during the first year of their diagnosis. While only 10% of those living past the first year live to the fifth year and 3% of those will succumb to the disease sometime beyond that point. Pancreatic Cancer is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially over the last 25 years. Those that make it past the first year have been known to live significantly longer today than those diagnosed before 2006.

​

There is no known specific cause of Pancreatic Cancer and it is very difficult to diagnose and detect in its early stage. While it does not necessarily attack a specific age group patients in recent years have ranged from 19 – 85 that are afflicted with pancreatic cancer. Previous research of pancreatic cancer patients put the percentages of patients at the older end but in the last couple of years that has changed dramatically while changing the age range significantly. People who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer even at an early stage face a significant risk of recurrence and early death.

Detection

 

Detection – Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer death largely because there are no detection tools to diagnose the disease in its early stages when surgical removal of the tumor is still possible.

Symptoms
 

Signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer vary and sometimes do not occur until the disease is in an advanced stage. That is why it is so difficult to diagnose and detect.

The signs and symptoms may include:

• Upper abdominal pain

• Lower back pain

• Yellowing of skin and whites of eyes

• Loss of appetite

• Significant loss of weight in the first 30 -60 days

• Depression

• Digestive issues

• Itching

​

​