More about Pancreatic Cancer

There are as many as 20 different types of tumors that can be found in the Pancreas.  

Pancreatic Cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. 
 

Pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially over nearly 40 years. 
 

Pancreatic cancer is the 3rd leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States.
 

Pancreatic cancer has a 12% Clinical Trial Enrollment rate.
 

About 64,100 people will be diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer this year.

Few risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer are defined. Family history of the disease, smoking, age, and diabetes are risk factors.

Symptoms include pain (usually abdominal or back pain), weight loss, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), loss of appetite, nausea, changes in stool, and diabetes.
 

Treatment options for pancreatic cancer are limited. Surgical removal of the tumor is possible in only approximately 15% of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy or chemotherapy together with radiation is typically offered to patients whose tumors cannot be removed surgically. 

Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer death largely because there are only two methods used to diagnose the disease in its early stages when surgical removal of the tumor is still possible, endoscopic ultrasound and MRI.

Approximately 30% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have locally advanced tumors.