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pancreatic cancer diagnosis
An uncle died of pancreatic cancer. It was quick. He was diagnosed, and died 6 months later. I didn't know much about cancer then, but it was a traumatic experience for my aunt and cousins. Sad stuff, thanks for the thread Dark.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CR...itearea=&dt=34
Overview: Pancreatic CancerHow Is Pancreatic Cancer Found?It is hard to find pancreatic cancer early. Because the pancreas is deep inside the body, the doctor cannot see or feel tumors during a routine physical exam. By the time a person has symptoms, the cancer is usually large and has spread to other organs. This is the main reason that people with this cancer often have a poor outlook.
Right now there are no blood tests or other tests that can easily find this cancer early in people without symptoms. Levels of tumor markers such as CA 19-9 and CEA may be higher than normal in people with pancreatic cancer, but the cancer is usually advanced by the time the levels become high.
Tests for certain genes in people with a strong family history of the disease can help tell if they are at higher risk for this cancer. But if the results show that these people could be at higher risk they may not be able to get health insurance, or it may cost more. These tests are not used to screen the general public. To learn more, see our document, Genetic Testing: What You Need to Know.
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer
Jaundice: A yellow color of the eyes and skin is called jaundice. It is caused by a build-up of a substance (bilirubin) that is made in the liver. At least half of all people with pancreatic cancer (and all people with ampullary cancer) have jaundice. While jaundice can be a sign of cancer, more often it is caused by something else.
Pain: Pain in the belly area (abdomen) or in the middle of the back is a very common sign of advanced pancreatic cancer. Again, such pain is often caused by something other than cancer.
Weight loss: Losing weight (without trying) over a number of months is very common in patients with this cancer. They may also feel very tired and not feel like eating.
Digestive problems: If the cancer blocks the release of the pancreatic juice into the intestine, a person may not be able to digest fatty foods. Stools might be pale, bulky, greasy, and float in the toilet. Other problems may include nausea, vomiting, and pain that gets worse after eating.
Swollen gallbladder: The doctor may find that the gallbladder is enlarged. The doctor can feel this and see it on imaging studies.
Blood clots: Sometimes blood clots form in the veins or cause problems with fatty tissue under the skin. Clots can sometimes travel to the lungs and cause trouble with breathing. But having a blood clot does not usually mean that you have cancer. Most blood clots are caused by other things
Diabetes: This cancer can cause problems with blood sugar. Sometimes (but not often) it can cause diabetes.
History and physical exam
First the doctor will ask questions about your health and do a physical exam. The exam will focus mostly on the belly (abdominal area). Sometimes this type of cancer spreads to the lymph nodes or the liver so the doctor will check these for swelling, too. The skin and the white part of the eyes will be checked for yellow color (jaundice).
Certain other tests that make pictures of the inside of the body might also be done. These are called imaging tests.
Imaging tests
CT scan (computed tomography)
This is a special type of x-ray that creates detailed pictures of the inside of the body. CT scans are useful in finding cancer and in seeing how far it has spread. CT scans can also be used to help guide a biopsy needle into the place that might be cancer (see below for more about biopsy).
CT scans are often used to find out if a person has pancreatic cancer. They are also helpful in finding out how much the cancer has spread. This is called staging the cancer. CT scans show the pancreas clearly and often can confirm where the cancer is. CT scans can also show the organs near the pancreas, as well as lymph nodes and distant organs where the cancer might have spread. The CT scan can help the doctor to decide whether surgery is a good treatment option.
CT scans take longer than regular x-rays, but they are getting faster. You need to lie still on a table while they are being done.
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
MRI scans use radio waves and strong magnets instead of x-rays to take pictures. MRI scans are helpful in looking at the brain and spinal cord. MRI scans take longer than CT scans—often up to an hour. Also, you have to lie inside a narrow tube, which can be upsetting for some people. Newer, "open" MRI machines can help with this if needed. The machine also makes a loud thumping noise. Some places will give you headphones with music to block it out.
Most doctors prefer CT scans to look at the pancreas, but an MRI may sometimes give more information.
PET scan (positron mission tomography)
PET scans involve injecting a form of sugar that contains a radioactive atom into the blood. Cancer cells absorb large amounts of this sugar. A special camera can show where these cells are. This test is useful to see whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or other places.
PET/CT scan: This new test combines the 2 types of scans to even better pinpoint the tumor. This test may be especially useful for spotting cancer that has spread beyond the pancreas and can't be removed by surgery. It may also be useful for staging the cancer. It may even be able to spot early cancer.
Ultrasound
This test uses sound waves to make pictures of the inside of the body. The pictures are combined by a computer to give a detailed image. This test can help tell what kind of a tumor is in the pancreas. Endoscopic ultrasound is done with a probe placed through the mouth or nose into the stomach. The probe can be pointed toward the pancreas. This gives a very good picture and is better than CT scans for spotting small tumors. Patients are given medicine to make them sleepy (sedated) for this type of ultrasound.
ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography)
For this test patients are given medicine to make them sleepy (sedated). Then a thin, flexible tube is passed down the throat, all the way into the small intestine. The doctor can see through the end of the tube and find where the common bile duct opens into the small intestine. A small amount of harmless dye is then injected through the tube into the ducts. This dye helps outline the ducts on x-rays. The pictures can show narrowed or blocked ducts that might be caused by a cancer of the pancreas. The doctor doing this test can also put a small brush through the tube to remove cells to look at under a microscope to see whether they look like cancer. ERCP can also be used to place a small tube (stent) into the bile duct to keep it open if a nearby tumor is pressing on it.
Angiography
This is a type of x-ray used to look at blood vessels. This test can show whether blood flow in an area is blocked or slowed by a tumor. It can also show if there are any abnormal blood vessels. The results help the doctor decide whether the cancer can be removed and helps them plan the surgery.
Angiography can be uncomfortable because the radiologist who does it has to put a small tube (called a catheter) into the artery leading to the pancreas. Usually the catheter is put into an artery in the inner thigh and threaded up to the pancreas. Medicine called a local anesthetic is often used to numb the area before putting in the catheter. Then the dye is injected quickly to outline all the vessels while the x-rays are being taken.
There are other tests, including blood tests, the doctor might use to learn more about a tumor. But the only way to know for sure if cancer is really present is with a biopsy.
Biopsy
During a biopsy a sample of tissue from the tumor is removed and looked at under a microscope to see if there are cancer cells. There are several types of biopsies that might be done. In the past, a biopsy was often done as part of surgery. Now, the FNA (fine needle aspiration) biopsy is most often used. For this test, the doctor puts a thin needle through the skin and into the pancreas to remove small pieces of tissue. Ultrasound might be used to place the needle through the wall of the intestine into the tumor. This test can be done while you are awake. It rarely causes side effects.
Another way to get biopsy samples is by doing 'keyhole surgery' (laparoscopy). For this you are given drugs to make you sleep. Then the surgeon makes small cuts and puts small, thin, telescope-like instruments into the belly. One of these instruments is connected to a video screen. The surgeon can look at your insides, see how big the tumor is, and see if it has spread. Biopsy samples can also be taken.
Most doctors who treat people with pancreatic cancer try to avoid surgery unless it looks like an operation might be able to remove all of the cancer. Even so, there are times when the doctor starts an operation only to find that the cancer has spread too far to be completely removed. In these cases, the doctor just takes a sample of the tumor and the rest of the operation is stopped.
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Patrick Swayze succumbs to pancreatic cancer
Patrick Swayze succumbs to pancreatic cancer
‘Dirty Dancing’ star, 57, battled disease since January 2008
msnbc.com news services
Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into viewers’ hearts with “Dirty Dancing” and then broke them with “Ghost,” died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.
“Patrick Swayze
Fans of the actor were saddened to learn in March 2008 that Swayze was suffering from a particularly deadly form of cancer.
He had kept working despite the diagnosis, putting together a memoir with his wife and shooting “The Beast,” an A&E
Swayze said he opted not to use painkilling drugs while making “The Beast” because they would have taken the edge off his performance. He acknowledged that time might be running out given the grim nature of the disease.
When he first went public with the illness, some reports gave him only weeks to live, but his doctor said his situation was “considerably more optimistic” than that.
“I’d say five years is pretty wishful thinking,” Swayze told ABC’s Barbara Walters in early 2009. “Two years seems likely if you’re going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I’d better get a fire under it.”
‘Dancing’ made him a star
A three-time Golden Globe nominee, Swayze became a star with his performance as the misunderstood bad-boy Johnny Castle in “Dirty Dancing.” As the son of a choreographer who began his career in musical theater, he seemed a natural to play the role.
A coming-of-age romance starring Jennifer Grey
It became an international phenomenon in the summer of 1987, spawning albums, an Oscar-winning hit song in “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life,” stage productions and a sequel, 2004’s “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” in which he made a cameo.
Swayze performed and co-wrote a song on the soundtrack, the ballad “She’s Like the Wind,” inspired by his wife, Lisa Niemi. The film also gave him the chance to utter the now-classic line, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
And it allowed him to poke fun at himself on a “Saturday Night Live” episode, in which he played a wannabe Chippendales dancer alongside the corpulent — and frighteningly shirtless — Chris Farley.
A major crowd-pleaser, the film drew only mixed reviews from critics, though Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times, “Given the limitations of his role, that of a poor but handsome sex-object abused by the rich women at Kellerman’s Mountain House, Mr. Swayze is also good. ... He’s at his best — as is the movie — when he’s dancing.”
Swayze followed that up with the 1989 action flick “Road House,” in which he played a bouncer at a rowdy bar. But it was his performance in 1990’s “Ghost” that showed his vulnerable, sensitive side. He starred as a murdered man trying to communicate with his fiancee (Demi Moore) — with great frustration and longing — through a psychic played by Whoopi Goldberg.
Swayze said at the time that he fought for the role of Sam Wheat (director Jerry Zucker wanted Kevin Kline) but once he went in for an audition and read six scenes, he got it.
Why did he want the part so badly? “It made me cry four or five times,” he said of Bruce Joel Rubin’s Oscar-winning script in an AP interview.
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The music in this clip is a little gay, but Swayze kicks azz. I really thought that was one of his best movies.
You fought a tough fight, Pat. Most people with pancreatic cancer don't last a year, and you kept fighting.
Thoughts and prayers for his family, RIP, dude.
Senior Member
That was a great movie. I wish peace and comfort for his family.Originally Posted by DarkSkies
The music in this clip is a little gay, but Swayze kicks azz. I really thought that was one of his best movies.
You fought a tough fight, Pat. Most people with pancreatic cancer don't last a year, and you kept fighting.
Thoughts and prayers for his family, RIP, dude.
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Bump for a good thread.
Junior Member
Can't really add much. Only advice I'd give is that if you're bleeding from any of the body's orifices get checked. Don't wait.
cheers
steve
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