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)

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

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

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.

Molecular marker could help spot pancreatic cancer early

Molecular marker could help spot pancreatic cancer early

CHAPEL HILL – Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a molecular marker of pancreatic cancer that may help spot the disease at its earliest stages, when it can be treated more successfully with surgery.
In a finding published April 26, 2010, in the online journal PLoS One, the researchers showed that a specific form of a protein called palladin is produced in large amounts in the "tumor nest," the cells that surround a pancreatic tumor.
By measuring the levels of this form of palladin in patient samples, doctors could have an improved way to screen for the deadly cancer, possibly catching it earlier than ever before, said senior study author Carol Otey, Ph.D., associate professor of cell and molecular physiology at UNC.
Otey is a member of the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TRaCS), part of a collaborative effort of a national network of medical research institutions affiliated with the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs).
"The problem with pancreas cancer is it is almost never caught at an early stage," said Otey. "By the time a person develops suspicious symptoms, the disease has typically progressed too far. But if you can diagnose it early, it can be treated very effectively with surgery."

What Are The Risk Factors For Pancreatic Cancer? | Health Tips

What Are The Risk Factors For Pancreatic Cancer? | Health Tips

Pancreatic cancer is currently the fifth most common form of cancer in the United States and is diagnosed in around 40,000 Americans each year. In most cases pancreatic cancer has an extremely poor survival outcome. Just 1 in 20 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will still be alive after five years.
The main reason pancreatic cancer has such a poor survival outcome is that the majority of cases are diagnosed when the cancer is at a very late stage. This is due to the non-specific symptoms associated with pancreatic cancer in its early stages. Early warning signs of pancreatic cancer include pain in the upper abdomen, jaundice, loss of appetite, and weight loss.
There are several risk factors that are known to affect an individuals probability of developing pancreatic cancer. While some of these cannot be changed, several can be influenced by sensible lifestyle and diet modifications.
Here are eleven of the more established risk factors for pancreatic cancer.

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Immunomedics Reports New Blood Test for Detecting Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer Correlates With Response to Clivatuzumab Tetraxetan Treatment - MarketWatch

Immunomedics Reports New Blood Test for Detecting Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer Correlates With Response to Clivatuzumab Tetraxetan Treatment - MarketWatch

Immunomedics, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!immu/quotes/nls/immu (IMMU 3.72, 0.00, 0.00%) , a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer and other serious diseases, today reported that a new blood test using the Company's proprietary humanized antibody, clivatuzumab or PAM4, predicted a partial response in an initial set of patients treated with a combination of the antibody labeled with yttrium-90 (Y-90) and gemcitabine. Results were presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
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Immunomedics to Report on Potential Cancer Therapy Products in 8 Presentations at 101st Annual AACR Meeting - MarketWatch

Immunomedics to Report on Potential Cancer Therapy Products in 8 Presentations at 101st Annual AACR Meeting - MarketWatch

MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., Apr 12, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Immunomedics, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!immu/quotes/nls/immu (IMMU 3.69, +0.12, +3.36%) , a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer and other serious diseases, today announced that eight presentations reporting on the Company's progress in diverse cancer therapy product candidates will be given at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), April 17 -- 21, 2010, in Washington, DC.
The spotlight of this year's presentations will be on pancreatic cancer, highlighted by a study correlating the results from a blood test for pancreatic cancer detection with responses to a radiolabeled antibody therapy. Additionally, the Company will introduce new antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) being studied in this cancer. (Please refer to the Company's press release at www.immunomedics.com/news_pdf/2010_PDF/PR01212010.pdf for more information on the new blood test).

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Pancreatic cancer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pancreatic cancer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pancreatic cancer is a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. Each year in the United States, about 42,470 individuals are diagnosed with this condition and 35,240 die from the disease.^[1] The prognosis is relatively poor but has improved; the three-year survival rate is now about thirty percent, but less than 5 percent of those diagnosed are still alive five years after diagnosis. Complete remission is still rather rare.^[2]
About 95% of exocrine pancreatic cancers are adenocarcinomas (M8140/3). The remaining 5% include adenosquamous carcinomas, signet ring cell carcinomas, hepatoid carcinomas, colloid carcinomas, undifferentiated carcinomas, and undifferentiated carcinomas with osteoclast-like giant cells.^[3] Exocrine pancreatic cancers are far more common than endocrine pancreatic cancers (also known as islet cell carcinomas), which make up about 1% of total cases.^[4][5]

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