Why is pancreatic cancer called the "king of cancer"? To prevent pancreatic cancer, we should do the following five things

Why is pancreatic cancer called the "king of cancer"?

Adenocarcinoma is a highly malignant digestive system tumor, with an average annual death toll of more than 200,000 worldwide. It is highly malignant, progresses rapidly, and has a very poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of about 7%. The pancreas has a special anatomical location, located between the stomach and the spine. It is a gland hidden deep in the abdomen. Patients have atypical early symptoms and the onset is insidious. The first symptoms often depend on the location and extent of the tumor. If it is pancreatic head cancer, obstructive jaundice may occur in the early stage, while pancreatic body and tail tumors generally do not cause jaundice.

As the disease progresses, symptoms such as abdominal discomfort or pain, weight loss and fatigue, indigestion symptoms, jaundice, enlarged liver and gallbladder, abdominal mass and ascites may appear. Pancreatic cancer invasion pain is the main symptom of most pancreatic cancer patients when they seek medical treatment.
Most patients are already in the advanced stage of the disease when diagnosed, and there is no chance of radical surgery, resulting in a poor prognosis for pancreatic cancer. Difficult diagnosis and poor treatment effect are the main reasons why pancreatic cancer is called the "king of cancer."

What are the causes and risk factors for pancreatic cancer?

Genetic and environmental factors are the main causes of pancreatic cancer.

About 10% of pancreatic cancer patients have a familial hereditary disease. Patients with hereditary pancreatitis, Peutz-Jegger syndrome, familial malignant melanoma and other hereditary tumor diseases have a significantly increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

Long-term smoking, advanced age, high-protein, high-calorie diet, and alcoholism are also related to pancreatic cancer. Obesity, chronic pancreatitis, or concomitant diabetes are possible non-hereditary risk factors for pancreatic cancer.

Beware of atypical symptoms of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer has no characteristic symptoms in its early stages.

If a person over 40 years old has symptoms such as upper abdominal discomfort, weight loss, nausea, jaundice, steatorrhea and pain, and no common upper gastrointestinal diseases are found by gastroscopy and B-ultrasound, especially if there is a family history of pancreatic cancer, they should be alert to the possibility of pancreatic disease.

For newly diagnosed diabetic patients over 50 years old, if they experience unexplained weight loss and/or large blood sugar fluctuations in a short period of time, or if there is a high risk of hereditary pancreatic cancer in the newly diagnosed diabetic population, they should undergo early screening for pancreatic cancer once confirmed.

How can pancreatic cancer be detected?

Ultrasound examination: It is simple and easy to perform and is the primary screening method for pancreatic cancer diagnosis. However, due to the influence of gas in the gastrointestinal tract and the patient's body shape, it is sometimes difficult to fully observe the pancreas, especially the tail of the pancreas. Therefore, conventional abdominal ultrasound and plain scan CT physical examinations are not easy to detect early lesions.

Enhanced three-dimensional dynamic CT: Thin-layer scanning is currently the best non-invasive imaging method for examining the pancreas, and is mainly used for the diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and staging of pancreatic cancer. When differential diagnosis of pancreatic lesions is difficult, or when the patient is allergic to CT contrast agents, enhanced magnetic resonance imaging can be used instead of CT scanning for diagnosis and clinical staging.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy: This is currently the most accurate method for localizing and qualitatively diagnosing pancreatic cancer.

Blood tumor marker CA19-9: It is a tumor marker with high application value and can be used for auxiliary diagnosis, efficacy monitoring and recurrence monitoring of pancreatic cancer. However, about 10% of pancreatic cancer patients do not express CA19 9 and need to be combined with other tumor markers, such as CEA and CA125, to assist in diagnosis.

To prevent pancreatic cancer, we should do the following five things

1. Do not overeat and eat less high-protein and high-fat foods. We should ensure a reasonable combination of meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and grains in our diet, not be partial or picky about food, eat less fried, deep-fried, and baked foods, and appropriately increase the intake of coarse grains, vegetables, and fruits.

2. Do not smoke or drink excessively.

3. Keep exercising, sit less and move more, and maintain a good mood.

4. Avoid contact with harmful chemicals such as naphthylamine and aniline.

5. To improve the detection rate of early pancreatic cancer, we must pay attention to high-risk groups. Therefore, it is recommended that high-risk groups with a family history of pancreatic cancer or genetic gene mutations should also arrange regular cancer prevention examinations to ensure early detection and early treatment.

When you have upper abdominal pain, don't just assume it's a stomach problem. It could be pancreatic cancer or another disease that's a "warning bell" for you. See a doctor in time and be careful to distinguish. Clinically, you should be alert to the warning symptoms of pancreatic cancer. If you have symptoms such as loss of appetite, abdominal pain and bloating, yellowing of the skin and sclera, lighter stool color, and unexplained weight loss, you should consider the possibility of pancreatic disease.