The pancreas is an organ shaped like a tube with a length of about 15 cm and is located at the rear of the abdomen, just behind the stomach. Two main tasks of the pancreas is formed digestive enzymes whose function is to digest food and to produce hormones, including insulin, which is a hormone that functions to regulate sugar levels in the blood. Pancreatic cancer occurs when cancer cells grow, divide, and spread in the tissues of the pancreas.
Causes and Risk Factors of Pancreatic Cancer Occurrence
The exact cause of pancreatic cancer is unknown, but smoking is a major risk factor for pancreatic cancer. Smokers have 2-3 times higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those who do not smoke.
In addition, age was also influential. Pancreatic cancer usually occurs in people over the age of 45 years. Diabetes also allegedly associated with the occurrence of pancreatic cancer, in which about 10-20% of pancreatic cancer patients also suffer from diabetes.
Some other things that also increase the risk of pancreatic cancer is chronic pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas that occurs in a long time) and liver cirrhosis. In addition, the presence of family members who menderia pancreatic cancer, high-fat diet, obesity, and lack of exercise can also increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.
symptom
Pancreatic cancer usually does not cause any symptoms in the early stages of disease. Symptoms begin to appear when the disease has progressed and spread to other organs. Symptoms commonly found are:
Pain in the upper abdomen, which sometimes spreads to the back. The pain is usually worse after eating or lying down
Jaundice (yellowing of skin and whites of the eyes yellowish)
nausea
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
fatigue
Body feels weak and limp
depression
Do I Suffer Pancreatic Cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect at an early stage and can not be found through a physical examination of the abdomen (belly). Diagnosis is based on the results of a CT scan of the abdomen. In addition, CT scans can also show the extent to which the disease has progressed.
Other tests for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is pancreatic tissue biopsy. A biopsy can be done through inserting a needle into the stomach and reach the pancreas or through surgery.
Treatment Options In Pancreatic Cancer
Measures Surgery
Surgery can cure pancreatic cancer when the cancer has not spread to other organs. Removal of the tumor is done to continue to maintain as much as possible to normal pancreatic tissue. Side effects of surgery depends on how much pancreatic tissue removed.
However, because of newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer usually when cancer cells have spread far from the pancreas and makes surgery alone can not cure cancer completely.
Surgery can still be done even if the cancer cells have spread to other organs to reduce symptoms and prevent complications due to the large size of this pancreatic cancer.
radiation
Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment step by using strong radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy is usually performed for 5 days a week for several weeks or months. These restrictions are intended to protect normal tissues or cells of this radiation.
Radiation therapy is often combined with surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells after surgery. In addition, radiation therapy can also help reduce pain or indigestion due to the magnitude of the cancer mass.
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment uses drugs to destroy cancer cells and stop the growth and development of cancer cells. Chemotherapy can only use one type of drug or combination of drugs.
These drugs can be given orally (by mouth) or by injection (intravenously). Because these drugs enter the bloodstream and travel through the body, then chemotherapy is the treatment of choice for cancer that has spread. Chemotherapy can also be combined with surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells after surgery.
Target Cell Therapy
Therapeutic target cells can attack cancer cells specifically. This therapy has fewer side effects than chemotherapy and is not harmful to normal cells.
Palliative therapy
Palliative therapy is a therapy that aims to improve the quality of life by reducing symptoms penderta and relieve pain caused by disease.
prevention
Because the exact cause of pancreatic cancer is unknown, there is no special thing to do to prevent this disease. However, avoid pancreatic cancer risk factors can help you, such as:
quit smoking
Reduce your fat intake and start eating high-fiber foods such as vegetables and fruits
Exercise regularly
Source: webmd.com
