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Cancer Information Tips :: Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms
Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms: A Guide to Pancreatic Cancer Common Symptoms
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Pancreatic cancer symptoms are often difficult to detect, making it even harder to diagnose this potentially deadly disease. It's important to remember that many of these symptoms will not present themselves until after the disease is in an advanced stage. Keep reading for a list of possible symptoms.
Abdomen Pains
One of the most common pancreatic cancer symptoms are pains in the upper abdomen that spreads to the back. Often patients experiencing this kind of pain will feel relief when they lean forward, relieving pressure on the affected area.
Pain is typically present in about 80% of patients with either local or metastatic forms of pancreatic cancer. The pain can sometimes be made worse by eating.
Loss of Appetite
Loss of appetite and subsequent weight loss are also common symptoms associated with pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, appetite loss and decreased weight are also symptoms associated with a number of other diseases and ailments, including digestive issues.
Jaundice
Because pancreatic cancer can obstruct the bile duct, which runs partially through the pancreas head, jaundice is a common side effect. Tumors that occur on the head of the pancreas (happens in 60% of diagnosed cases) are usually the cause of jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and eyes.
Typically, jaundice for patients with pancreatic cancer is often accompanied by dark urine and pruritus, or itching. Approximately half of pancreatic cancer patients with local forms of the disease experience painful jaundice and half of patients with a curable or resectable lesion experience painless jaundice.
Trusseau Sign
Trusseau Sign is a secondary or complex symptom where blood clots form in portal blood vessels, deep veins and superficial veins spontaneously. It is sometimes associated with or common to patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Clinical Depression
Though not as thoroughly reported or documented, clinical depression is an associated side effect with pancreatic cancer. The depression often presents itself before the disease is diagnosed.
Diagnosing Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is typically diagnosed after the above symptoms are either detected by the patient or their supervising doctor. After the symptoms are evaluated, liver function tests and tests for CA19-9, a marker for pancreatic cancer, are often done.
In addition, imaging such as ultrasounds and a CT scan on the abdomen can be done to identify potentially visible tumors. Some patients may require an endoscopic ultrasound to obtain tissue samples or see the tumor location.
Pancreatic Cancer Screening
Because pancreatic cancer symptoms do not often appear until the disease has reached the advance stages, you may want to consider pancreatic cancer screening if you have two or more first-degree relatives (parents, siblings, etc) diagnosed with the disease.
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CancerInfoTips.com :: Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms