Monday, May 24, 2010

Surgery The Only Hope For Pancreatic Cancer

90% of Pancreatic Cancer is unresectable at the time of diagnosis. Only about 10% has the chance of surgery and hence cure at the time of diagnosis.That makes Pancreatic Cancer as one of the most feared Cancer to get. Having said that,we hear many people including celebrities who have been cured of Pancreatic Cancer by surgery.This is because Pancreatic Cancer is quite common in the community who are living the modern/western lifestyle.
Surgery is the main hope for cure.Other modalities of treatment are at best "experimental" in nature.
Nonetheless,a chemotherapeutic agent Gemcitabine has very promising outcome to improve in the success of treating pancreatic cancer.
The best chance of treating Pancreatic Cancer is to detect/discover them early even before the classical symptoms of jaundice appears.Patients with vague abdominal or back pain not responding to the usual treatment of abdominal and back pain should undergo a CT abdomen with a tumour marker study of CA19-9.
in reference to: http://www.cancerjournals.net/part-1-pancreatic-cancer-and-the-latest-treatments-ask-dr-patrick-g-jackson/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Thursday, May 20, 2010

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Binge drinking linked to pancreatic cancer

A new research from UT Southwestern Medical Center suggests that heavy alcohol use and binge drinking can increase the risk of pancreatic cancer in men. 

Researchers found that men who consumed alcohol increased their risk of pancreatic cancer by 1.5 to 6 times compared with those who didn't consume alcohol or who had less than one drink per month.

Also, men who engaged in binge drinking had a 3.5 times greater likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer.

"If this relationship continues to be confirmed, reducing heavy and binge drinking may be more important than we already know," said Dr. Samir Gupta, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and lead author of the study, which was conducted at the University of California, San Francisco. 



source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Life/Health-Fitness/Health/Binge-drinking-linked-to-pancreatic-cancer/articleshow/5952739.cms


Saturday, May 15, 2010

In Patients With Pancreatic Disease, Quality-Of-Life Testing May Predict Malignancy And Survival

Quality-of-life measures used routinely to assess treatment outcomes for patients with pancreatic disease may be used to predict both malignancy and survival for those patients, according to a study by Henry Ford Hospital.

Researchers found that pre-treatment quality-of-life scores could predict malignancy in patients with pancreatic lesions and survival in those who are found to have malignancies.

"Our findings suggest that pretreatment quality-of-life scores may show which patients will have a poor survival and therefore could avoid aggressive, but futile, treatment," says Vic Velanovich, M.D., chief of General Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital and lead author of the study. 



Source :http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/187555.php


Wednesday, May 5, 2010

How to Improve Pancreatic Cancer Life Expectancy

How to Improve Pancreatic Cancer Life Expectancy


Pancreatic cancer is a disease that primarily affects the pancreas. The pancreas is mostly located in the interior parts below the abdomen and the stomach. The pancreas is essential because it releases enzymes to catalyze the digestion process, and also helps maintain blood sugar levels stable.
Sadly, pancreatic cancer is rarely detected, and an effective treatment can be difficult to find. The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are usually felt at the peak of the disease—which gives the patient very little time to find a treatment.
The life expectancy of individuals who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is usually about five to eight months. Albeit pancreatic cancer life expectancy is very low, it is still possible to prolong the life expectancy of pancreatic cancer. The following information below shows a detailed guide on how to increase pancreatic cancer life expectancy, and how to treat pancreatic cancer symptoms.



Read more at Suite101: How to Improve Pancreatic Cancer Life Expectancy http://cancer.suite101.com/article.cfm/how-to-improve-pancreatic-cancer-life-expectancy#ixzz0n2bUupVV

Ulcerative colitis in men linked to increased risk for pancreatic cancer | HemOncToday

Ulcerative colitis in men linked to increased risk for pancreatic cancer | HemOncToday


Patients with inflammatory bowel disease had six times the risk for developing pancreatic neoplasia, and men with ulcerative colitis had five times the risk for developing pancreatic neoplasia in a prospective study of more than 2,800 patients.
Because there is a known association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and primary sclerosing cholangitis and cholangiocarcinoma within the bile ducts, as well as between primary sclerosing cholangitis and pancreatic cancer, researchers suspected that patients with IBD would be at greater risk for the development of pancreatic cancer.
To test their supposition, researchers prospectively examined 2,877 adults with IBD who were treated in the University of Utah Health System from January 1996 to December 2006. The IBD cohort was then matched to the Utah Cancer Registry and the Utah Population Database to determine the number of patients diagnosed with IBD and pancreatic cancer.