Pancreas cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a malignant neoplasm formed from cells that form the pancreas. The most common form of this cancer, accounting for up to 95% of all cases of this tumor, is adenocarcinoma, which develops inside the exocrine component of the pancreas. Adenocarcinomas are malignant tumors that affect the glandular tissues of the body. However, not all cases of pancreatic cancer - this is just such an adenocarcinoma. In a number of cases, the tumor develops from the so-called insulocyte, and therefore is classified as a neuroendocrine tumor. Signs and symptoms that raise suspicion of cancer depend on the location of the tumor, its size and the type of tissue that forms it. In general, the symptoms of pancreatic cancer include pain in the abdomen, pain in the lower back and if the tumor compresses the bile duct, the spillage of bile. In addition, there may be significant weight loss, itching, depression, acute thrombophlebitis of the veins (a symptom of Tissot), a symptom of Courvoisier and many others.

In the rating of the most deadly cancerous tumors, pancreatic cancer confidently holds an honorable fourth place in the number of deaths among men and women, being responsible for about 6% of all cancer deaths. Approximately three-quarters of all malignant pancreatic tumors develop in the head or in the neck of the gland, 15 to 20 percent of tumors develop directly into the gland's body, and another 5 to 10 percent appear from its tail.

The treatment of pancreatic cancer is quite complex, since diagnosing this tumor in the early stages is an extremely, extremely difficult task. Moreover, according to statistical data, more than half of all patients at the time of diagnosis of "pancreatic cancer" were already carriers of a metastatic tumor, and 26 percent had regional lymph node involvement. The level of relative survival of patients in the first year after the diagnosis of "pancreatic cancer" is only 26 percent. However, the similar five-year level is even smaller and is only 6%.

It should be noted that of all pancreatic tumors, 80% are adenocarcinomas of the duct epithelium. Only 2 percent of tumors of the exocrine pancreas are benign.

Less common histological forms of pancreatic cancer include such types of tumors as giant cell carcinoma, glandular squamous cell carcinoma, microglandular adenocarcinoma, mucoid cancer, cystadenocarcinoma, papillary cystic carcinoma, acinotic cystadenocarcinoma, and acinocellular cystadenocarcinoma. It is extremely rare that a patient develops pancreatic connective tissue tumors. The most common form of such cancers is pancreatic lymphoma.

As a rule, the first metastasis of pancreatic cancer results in regional lymph nodes, then into the liver and, less often, into the lungs. In addition, the tumor can germinate and directly into those organs that are located in the peritoneum next to the non-concordantly gland, that is, into the stomach, duodenum and into the large intestine. In addition, pancreatic cancer can peritoneally metastasize into any surface located in the abdominal cavity. As a consequence, ascites can develop (dropsy), and this is a very, very gloomy and bad sign. Pancreatic cancer can also metastasize to the skin, which will manifest as painful nodules. With all this, such tumors rarely give metastases to the bone.