Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer begins in the pancreas, a pear-shaped gland in the abdomen that makes insulin and other hormones to help you store energy from food. It also makes pancreatic juices, which contain enzymes that help you digest food.
More than 29,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease each year.
About Pancreatic Cancer
The most common type of pancreatic cancer, adenocarcinoma, begins in the exocrine pancreas cells that make pancreatic juices to digest your food.
Islet cell cancer, a rare type of pancreatic cancer, begins in the endocrine pancreas cells, which make insulin and other hormones to control blood sugar levels.
Cancer of the pancreas may invade nearby lymph nodes and metastasize to other parts of the body. It may also spread to the tissue that lines the abdomen.
Who’s at Risk?
Men over the age of 60 are more likely to develop pancreatic cancer. African Americans are also at a higher risk.
Risk Factors
The following risk factors are known to increase your chance of pancreatic cancer:
- Smoking: Cigarette smokers are two to three more times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer.
- Diabetes: Pancreatic cancer occurs more often in people with diabetes.
- Family history: Father, mother, brother or sister with pancreatic cancer. Family history of colon or ovarian cancer.
- Chronic pancreatitis: Inflammation of the pancreas.
Treatment
Gastrointestinal surgery to remove all or part of the pancreas is a common treatment for the disease. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are also used to treat pancreatic cancer. Treatment for pancreatic cancer often uses a combination of methods.
Some information on this page is provided by the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society.