Pancreatic cancer

Note: The information on cancer types on the ACRF website is not designed to provide medical or professional advice and is for information only. If you have any health problems or questions please consult your doctor.

Overview

This is cancer of the pancreas gland. The pancreas produces secretions that help digest food, and hormones, including insulin, that regulate food storage and use.

The pancreas is around six inches long and is located in the abdomen. Most pancreatic cancers begin in the head of the pancreas, in the ducts that carry digestive juices within the exocrine cells. A small proportion of pancreatic cancers begin in the hormone producing cells, known as the endocrine or islet cells.

Most pancreatic tumours are adenocarcinomas, malignant tumours whose cells are arranged in a glandlike pattern. As a tumour grows, it may invade nearby organs including the stomach and intestines.

There are, however, around 20 tumour types classified as pancreatic cancer and each has a different response to treatment.

Tumour cells can break away and spread to the lymph nodes, liver, nerves and blood vessels. Most pancreatic cancers have spread beyond the gland by the time they are diagnosed.

Treatment

Generally, pancreatic tumours have the lowest response to treatment of all major cancers, however ongoing care by multi-disciplinary experts can ensure quality of life for longer than was possible in the past. Treatment options depend on the cancer’s extent.

For removable tumours, surgery is the most common treatment and can be very effective with a low complication risk.

The most common surgery is the ‘Whipple’ procedure, which removes the ‘head’ of the pancreas and sometimes more of the gland, as well as the gallbladder, part of the stomach, the lower half of the bile duct, and part of the small intestine.

Radiation therapy, usually combined with chemotherapy, is often used after surgery to prevent recurrence and can also be used on patients whose cancer has become too widespread to be removed surgically.

Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, whose tumours cannot be removed by surgery, may receive chemotherapy to reduce the rate of tumour growth.

Rehabilitation therapy by physical therapists plays a key role in improving a pancreatic cancer patient’s mobility, strength and endurance.