The American Cancer Society reports that doctors will diagnose around 55,440 people with pancreatic cancer this year, and another 44,300 other people will die from it. About one in 63 men will develop pancreatic cancer as will one in 65 women.
Pancreatic cancer is lethal; 95 percent of patients die from it. The cancer’s lethality is due to its insidious nature; there are generally no symptoms during the treatable early stages. Most people only go to the doctor after developing symptoms like jaundice or abdominal pain. By that time, the cancer has become quite advanced.
The risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases with age. Ninety percent of patients are over 55 when they are diagnosed, and the average patient is 71 years old. The disease is more common in African-Americans than in white people.
The pancreas is an organ that is part of both the endocrine system and the digestive system. It is located in the abdominal region and secretes hormones that regulate bodily functions. It also produces enzymes that aid in digestion.
Pancreatic cancer takes two forms: endocrine tumors and exocrine tumors. The latter is the more common type, and the most common kind thereof is called adenocarcinoma, which typically develops in gland cells within the pancreas’ ducts. Adenocarcinoma is an extremely aggressive cancer with a five-year survival rate of less than five percent.
Endocrine, or neuroendocrine, tumors are far more survivable; they have a five-year survival rate of between 50 to 80 percent. Steve Jobs had lived with an endocrine tumor for over seven years before succumbing in 2011. Aretha Franklin also had a neuroendocrine tumor. Unfortunately, neuroendocrine tumors make up only about five percent of pancreatic cancer cases.
Pancreatic cancer can be treated through surgery – if it is caught before it has a chance to spread and if the surgeon detects and removes all of the cancer cells. If the surgeon misses a few microscopic cancer cells, the cancer eventually returns.
In 2011, two drugs were approved for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors. The drugs, Everolimus (Novartis) and Sunitinib malate (Pfizer), both work by suppressing the tumor cells’ metabolism and by interfering with their blood supply.
Researchers have been studying pancreatic cancer in order to find more cures and learn more about the cancer’s growth. They are also looking for biomarkers that would enable doctors to use simple urine or blood tests to diagnose the cancer. There is currently no way to screen somebody for pancreatic cancer the way there is to screen someone for breast or prostate cancer – and early diagnosis is crucial for patient survival.
