pancreas cancer

Descript_ion of Pancreatic Cancer

Cancer of the pancreas is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the tissues of the pancreas. The pancreas is about 6 inches long and is shaped something like a thin pear, wider at one end and narrowing at the other. The pancreas lies behind the stomach, inside a loop formed by part of the small intestine. The broader right end of the pancreas is called the head, the middle section is called the body, and the narrow left end is the tail.

The pancreas has two basic jobs in your body. It produces juices that help you break down (digest) your food, and hormones (such as insulin) that regulate how your body stores and uses food. The area of the pancreas that produces digestive juices is called the exocrine pancreas. About 95% of pancreatic cancers begin in the exocrine pancreas. The hormone-producing area of the pancreas is called the endocrine pancreas. Only about 5% of pancreatic cancers start here. This statement has information on cancer of the exocrine pancreas. For more information on cancer of the endocrine pancreas (also called islet cell cancer) see the PDQ Patient Information Statement on Islet Cell Carcinoma. Cancer of the pancreas is hard to find (diagnose) because the organ is hidden behind other organs. Organs around the pancreas include the stomach, small intestine, bile ducts (tubes through which bile, a digestive juice made by the liver, flows from the liver to the small intestine), gallbladder (the small sac below the liver that stores bile), the liver, and the spleen (the organ that stores red blood cells and filters blood to remove excess blood cells). The signs of pancreatic cancer are like many other illnesses, and there may be no signs in the first stages. You should see your doctor if you have any of the following: nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss without trying to lose weight, pain in the upper or middle of your abdomen, or yellowing of your skin (jaundice).