It produces a fluid that helps to digest food (pancreatic juice) and a hormone that enables the body to use sugars and store fats (insulin). Like a dog, it’s sections are divided in to a head, body and tail.

Pancreatic cancer is not common and is rare in people below the age of 50. The most common type of pancreatic cancer are called adenocarcinomas.

What causes it?

The causes of pancreatic cancer is unknown and like other cancers, cancer of the pancreas
is not infectious and can’t be passed on to other people. There are factors that may increase a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

• Age: About 6 in10 are diagnosed in people over 70. Some of the rarer types, such as neuroendocrine and papillary cancer, may affect people in their 20’s
• Smoking
• Inflammation of the pancreas
• Diet: Consuming large amounts of fat, sugar, red or processed meat may increase your risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
• Diabetes: the vast majority of people with diabetes won’t develop pancreatic cancer
• Genetic risk: Up to 10 out of every 100 cases (10%) of cancer of the pancreas might be due to inheriting a faulty gene.

What are the symptoms?

Most common symptoms of pancreatic cancer are pains in the upper abdomen, weight loss, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, itchy skin, dark yellow urine, and pale bowel). Some people may have only one of these symptoms.

TIP: Remember, most pain in the abdomen is not caused by cancer of the pancreas, but you can arrange to see your doctor if you are worried.

How is it diagnosed?

It can be difficult to diagnose pancreatic cancer as the symptoms may be vague or caused by other conditions. However, your GP will normally look at your eyes and the colour of your skin to detect any jaundice, test your urine for bile . More tests maybe required, these may include

• Blood tests
• CT scan (computerised tomography): a series of x-rays that builds up a three-dimensional picture of the inside of the body
• Ultrasound: uses sound waves to look at organs such as the pancreas and liver
• MRI scan: uses magnetic fields to build up a series of cross-sectional pictures of the body
• ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography): a thin tube (endoscope) is passed through your mouth and stomach to take an x-ray
• EUS (endoscopic ultrasound): – sometimes used instead of an ERCP
• Biopsy: some cells are removed from the abnormal area and examined under a microscope
• Laparoscopy: a small operation done under general anaesthetic to see whether further surgery will be possible.

If the results of the test show you have pancreatic cancer, you will be referred to a specialist.

Staging

Pancreatic cancer is divided into four stages: small and localised (stage one); spread into surrounding structures (stages two or three); or spread into other parts of the body (stage four). If the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body this is known as secondary cancer (or metastatic cancer).

How is it treated?

Your team of doctors and other staff at the hospital will plan your treatment. It will depend on the size of the tumour and where it is. You may be treated by an oncologist (a doctor who specialises in treating cancer with chemotherapy) and a radiologist (a doctor who specialises in treating cancer with radiation).

Treatment may involve

• Chemotherapy
• Radiotherapy
• Surgery

Most people have chemotherapy to shrink to size of the tumour and to get rid of any cancer cells around the body. This is usually followed with surgery to remove the tumour. More chemotherapy and radiotherapy usually follows.

Chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer

This treatment is often given to people with pancreatic cancer to shrink the tumour prior to surgery. This means that the surgery will be less invasive. Often chemo starts again after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells and stop them from spreading.This is called adjunct chemotherapy.

For more information about chemotherapy, go to our chemotherapy fact sheet.

Surgery for pancreatic cancer

The aim of surgery is to remove the tumour, and this is the most effective treatment in early stage pancreatic cancer. 
Depending on where the cancer is, and how much of the pancreas is involved, all, or part of the pancreas may need to be removed during surgery.

• Pancreatectomy: Removal of the whole pancreas
• Distal Pancreatectomy: Removal of the lower end (body and tail) of the pancreas
• Pancreatoduodenectomy: Removal of the head of the pancreas and surrounding intestine.
• Bypass surgery: Treating either the onset of jaundice and blockages in lower abdomen as a result of the tumour.

For more information about surgery, go to our surgery fact sheet.

Radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer

Radiotherapy for cancer of the pancreas is still at experimental stage and is used less often than either surgery or chemotherapy.
For more information about radiotherapy, go to our radiotherapy fact sheet.

There are some side effects of the treatments for pancreatic cancer which can be found in our side effects fact sheet.

More information

You may want to check out the websites or fact sheets on the left hand side for more information other cancers, and related topics.
Check out our community pages to chat with other young people about pancreatic cancer, or its treatment….or anything really.