The most typical symptoms of pancreatic cancer are abdominal pain, sudden loss of appetite and weight, yellow skin and yellow eyes. Unfortunately, very often, by the time a patient encounters these signs, the cancer has already spread further and affected other parts of the body. In the cancer mortality statistics, pancreatic cancer is listed as number one. This type of cancer, even if it is detected early in its development, carries a rather poor overall prognosis.
Medicine has yet to come up with an effected treatment, let alone a cure. There is another problem which makes the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer very difficult at times. All of the symptoms are not typical for this form of cancer and could therefore accidentally be attributed to a less serious condition. If you encounter any of the signs listed above, please see a doctor immediately. He will advise you on the next steps. And that might be taking a few tests to get a better picture of the situation. An ultrasound or an MRI can help to identify tumors and masses on the pancreas or elsewhere inside the body. Other diagnostic tools are CT and PET Scans.
If the results of the tests indicate the presence of a mass, the next step would be a biopsy to test for malignancy. After more tests, your doctors will probably be able to tell you what stage your cancer is at. As for most other forms of cancer, pancreatic cancer is categorized in four stages. Stage I has the best outlook, Stage for the poorest.
The earlier a cancer is being detected, the better are the chances to design a treatment protocol that will help to maintain a good quality of life. The key message is; if you encounter any unusual symptoms on yourself, please go and consult with a Health Care Professional immediately. And please don't think I don't know what I'm talking about. I am a cancer patient myself. In October of 2009, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. A few weeks prior to that, I encountered blood in my urine. My wife practically forced me to see an urologist, which I did after a few days. A few weeks later I was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma.
The cancer had taken over my entire left kidney, but was just caught early enough before it had a chance to spread any further. The kidney was removed, and I consider myself lucky that I got away with just that. However, if I had waited any longer, the outcome would have been much worse.
