• Genes and health
• Conditions we cover
• Pancreatic Cancer
• Complete scan
• Cancer scan
• Cardio scan
• Advanced features

Like most other cancers, pancreatic cancer has the best prognosis when found in its earliest stages.

Talk to your doctor if you notice any new or unusual symptoms.

People with pancreatic cancer often have no symptoms until the disease has reached an advanced stage

Vague and non-specific symptoms of pancreatic cancer make it difficult to detect

One of the reasons why pancreatic cancer is so difficult to detect is that there are no notable symptoms in the early stages of the disease. When present, the few symptoms that are attributable to the disease could be due to many other causes and more common diseases. Even when pancreatic cancer tumors have grown significantly, they are not easily detected during routine medical exams, because the pancreas is hidden behind other organs, such as the stomach, small intestine, liver, gallbladder, spleen, and bile ducts.

Pancreatic cancer symptoms can vary

When pancreatic cancer symptoms do arise, they can vary considerably. In part, this may be explained by the part of the pancreas that is affected (i.e. head, body or tail), the advancement of the cancer, and whether or not it has spread beyond the pancreas (metastasized) to other adjacent organs.

Pancreatic cancer that originates in the body or tail of the pancreas typically causes no symptoms until the tumor has grown considerably. If the tumor is in the head of the pancreas, the bile duct may become obstructed causing buildup of bilirubin in the blood leading to darkened urine and jaundice, symptoms that sometimes can be detected before the cancer had spread. Unfortunately, in more than 90% of cases, by the time pancreatic cancer starts causing symptoms, the cancer has already spread beyond the pancreas. It usually spreads first to the neighboring lymph nodes, the liver or the lungs.

The most commonly reported symptoms associated with advanced pancreatic cancer are:

• Weight loss: Pancreatic cancer often leads to unanticipated weight loss as a result of cancerous cells tending to deplete surrounding healthy cells of vital nutrients. Weight loss can also be due to the interference of the pancreatic tumor with sugar metabolism and fat digestion.
• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes): is a result of increased bilirubin concentration in the blood. If a tumor grows in the head of the pancreas, it may press on or obstruct the bile duct, which lies close to the head of the pancreas. This can prevent bilirubin from reaching the intestines, causing bilirubin levels in the blood and urine to rise, resulting in yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), itchiness of the skin, and darkened urine. Sometimes jaundice may occur as the result of a small tumor in the pancreas head, thus providing an early warning of pancreatic cancer. If the cancer develops in the tail or body of the pancreas, bilirubin associated symptoms are usually not experienced until the cancer is more advanced.
• Abdominal pain, may be due to an obstructed bile or pancreatic duct, but can also occur once a pancreatic tumor is large enough to press on other adjacent organs or on the spine and nerves. This type of pain may worsen 3-4 hours after eating and when lying down, but may improve when sitting up and leaning forward.
• Back pain that does not go away can occur if the pancreatic tumor presses on the spine or on spinal nerves.
• Nausea and vomiting, can occur when cancer in the head of the pancreas obstructs the flow of stomach contents into the small intestine or obstructs the small intestine itself. If the cancer is in the body or the tail of the pancreas, it can also block the pancreatic duct, causing various symptoms of poor digestion, including nausea, loose stools and weight loss.
• Disturbed bowel function. A variety of bowel disturbances can be experienced with pancreatic cancer including both diarrhea and constipation. When the bile duct becomes obstructed, the resulting poor fat digestion causes pale, fatty stools that can be foul smelling and float and be difficult to flush away, a condition called steatorrhea.
• Unexpected diabetes. There is a recognized association between diabetes and pancreatic cancer, especially type 2 diabetes. The likelihood of diabetes being symptomatic of pancreatic cancer increases if the onset of diabetes is sudden and unexpected (for example if there is no family history of diabetes) and occurs in someone over 50 years old who is not obese.
• Blood clots (venous thrombosis) may be associated with advanced stages of pancreatic cancer. Indeed, a blood clot can be the first detectable symptom of pancreatic cancer. The cancer itself causes changes in the blood that increase the risk of blood clots. Some blood clots have no symptoms, but swelling, pain and redness can be present in the area of the clot.

If one or more of the symptoms described above are present, physicians can perform medical exams and tests to help determine whether they are caused by pancreatic cancer or by some other disease. Like most other cancers, pancreatic cancer has the best prognosis when found in its earliest stages. Talk to your doctor if you notice any new or unusual symptoms. Taking immediate action could mean an earlier diagnosis and a significantly better prognosis.

More about pancreatic cancer symptoms

For more about the symptoms of pancreatic cancer and how it is diagnosed, see your doctor or visitor the following websites:

• How is cancer of the pancreas diagnosed? – The American Cancer Society
• Pancreatic Cancer Tests and Diagnosis – The Mayo Clinic

This content was last reviewed on February 18, 2010.

The conditions we cover: ABO Blood Types, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, Age Related Macular Degeneration, Alcohol Flush Reaction, Alzheimer’s Disease, Asthma, Atrial Fibrillation, Basal Cell Carcinoma, Bitter Taste Perception, Bladder Cancer, Brain Aneurysm, Brain Cancer-Glioma, Breast Cancer, Celiac Disease, Chronic Kidney Disease, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Colorectal Cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Essential Tremor, Exfoliation Glaucoma, Eye Color, Gallstones, Gout, Heart Attack, Hemochromatosis, Hypertension, Kidney Stones, Lactose Intolerance, Lung Cancer, Male Pattern Baldness, Multiple Sclerosis, Nicotine Dependence, Obesity, Ovarian Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Prostate Cancer, Psoriasis, Restless Legs Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Statin Induced Myopathy, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Testicular Cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, Ulcerative Colitis, Venous Thromboembolism, Warfarin Metabolism.