Why is pancreatic cancer diagnosed at an advanced stage?

Author: Pan Wei Xiangnan College

Reviewer: Zhou Yong, Associate Professor, Xiangnan University

As the second largest digestive gland in the human body, the pancreas not only secretes a variety of digestive enzymes to promote digestion, but also secretes insulin and glucagon, which play an important role in regulating blood sugar concentration. According to research, it takes about 21 years for the pancreas to develop into pancreatic cancer. Although it takes a long time to turn into cancer, the incidence of pancreatic cancer has shown a clear upward trend both at home and abroad in recent years. According to statistics from the National Cancer Center of China in 2021, pancreatic cancer ranks 7th in the incidence of malignant tumors in men in my country, and 11th in women. Why is pancreatic cancer so difficult to detect?

1. Why is pancreatic cancer difficult to detect in its early stages?

The pancreas occupies a special position in the body. It is located behind the stomach and is surrounded by the liver, gallbladder, spleen, and duodenum. Most pancreatic cancer patients tend to confuse their condition with the symptoms of gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary diseases and do not seek medical treatment in a timely manner.

Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is difficult, and screening for individuals at higher risk of pancreatic cancer has not yet been widely popularized.

Due to the uneven medical standards in various regions, some residents have weak health awareness and do not undergo regular physical examinations. Some residents are not aware of their high risk of disease and miss the opportunity for early screening.

2. Clinical manifestations of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is highly malignant and progresses rapidly, but its onset is insidious and early symptoms are not obvious. The main clinical manifestations are as follows.

Abdominal discomfort or pain : Common first symptoms. Most pancreatic cancer patients only have upper abdominal discomfort or pain. In the middle and late stages, the abdominal pain gradually worsens.

Weight loss and fatigue : 80% to 90% of pancreatic cancer patients experience weight loss, fatigue, and weight loss in the early stages of the disease, which is related to lack of appetite and tumor consumption.

Digestive tract symptoms : When the tumor grows to a certain extent, bile and pancreatic juice cannot circulate, and patients often experience indigestion. Some patients may experience diarrhea because the pancreas's function of secreting digestive enzymes is damaged. In the late stage, if the tumor continues to spread, it may cause digestive tract obstruction or bleeding.

Jaundice : It is the most important clinical manifestation of pancreatic head cancer, along with skin itching, dark brown urine and white clay-like stools.

3. Treatment of pancreatic cancer

The treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer mainly includes surgery, drug therapy, radiotherapy and traditional Chinese medicine treatment.

Surgical treatment : If the patient is in good general condition and the tumor has not spread further, surgical resection can be selected. In addition to traditional laparotomy, minimally invasive pancreatic cancer radical resection is also available. Minimally invasive surgery is comparable to laparotomy in terms of surgical safety and lymph node clearance, but it is recommended that this surgery be performed in large professional hospitals.

Drug therapy : pancreatic cancer patients at any stage can use drug therapy. Drug therapy can prolong the patient's survival time and relieve the pain of advanced patients and improve the quality of life. Common therapeutic drugs include gemcitabine, capecitabine, albumin-bound paclitaxel, etc.

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Radiotherapy : It is one of the important local treatments for pancreatic cancer and is used throughout all stages. Radiotherapy can be used alone, such as high-dose, infrequently fractionated radiotherapy for some patients who cannot undergo surgery; it can also be combined with surgery, such as for local residual tumors after surgery, synchronous radiotherapy and chemotherapy can make up for the shortcomings of surgery. Regardless of which method is used, the ultimate goal is to control the tumor and prevent or delay tumor growth.

Traditional Chinese medicine treatment : Traditional Chinese medicine can promote the patient's physical recovery after surgery, reduce the toxicity of radiotherapy and targeted drugs, improve the patient's quality of life, and prolong survival to a certain extent. At present, it has been confirmed through experiments that traditional Chinese medicines such as Danshen, Panax notoginseng, and turmeric can effectively inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

There are many other treatments for advanced pancreatic cancer, such as interventional therapy. With the continuous update of medical methods, the survival rate of cancer patients is gradually increasing. Don't be discouraged if you have pancreatic cancer. Cooperate with the doctor, communicate with the doctor in time, and actively treat it.

People at high risk of pancreatic cancer should go to specialized pancreatic specialist centers regularly for early screening, pay attention to a balanced diet, quit smoking and drinking, do moderate exercise, and avoid obesity.

When faced with abnormal symptoms, you must seek medical attention in a timely manner, abandon "empiricism", and always put your physical health first.