Pancreatic adenocarcinoma occurs when cells in the pancreas (the gland that produces digestive enzymes) grow out of control. Symptoms of pancreatic adenocarcinoma can include abdominal pain, nausea and weight loss. In some cases, adenocarcinoma can damage the pancreas and impair its ability to make digestive enzymes, causing a condition called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
The risk of developing pancreatic cancer depends on factors like age, diet, and whether you smoke or drink alcohol. People with a family history of pancreatic cancer may be more likely to develop the disease. You can also get the disease if you have certain changes in your genes. These changes can affect how the DNA in your cells is damaged, which increases your risk of getting the disease.
You can reduce your risk of getting pancreatic cancer by taking a healthy, balanced diet, losing weight, and cutting down on alcohol. You can also avoid smoking and limit your exposure to chemicals in tobacco smoke.
Your doctor can tell if you have pancreatic adenocarcinoma by checking your symptoms, blood tests, and physical exams. Your doctor may also use imaging scans such as a CT or MRI to check for tumors in your pancreas and nearby organs.
If you have a family history of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, your doctor can talk to you about ways to lower your risk. This may include quitting smoking, eating a healthier diet, and exercising regularly.
In addition to these steps, you can take certain medications to prevent the growth of new cancer cells and reduce your symptoms. These medicines work by blocking specific proteins that promote cancer cell growth and spreading. Some of these drugs are called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).
Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses medicines to kill cancer cells. These medicines can be used alone or in combination with radiation therapy. They can be given before surgery or as part of your main cancer treatment.
Surgical resection is a type of surgery that removes some or all of the cancer. It is usually done to treat the early stages of pancreatic cancer and can improve your symptoms.
You may also need surgery if your tumor is close to the nerves that control your pancreas or if it has spread to your liver, lungs, bone or lymph nodes. The goal of surgery is to remove the cancer while preserving as much of your pancreas and other nearby structures as possible.
Your healthcare provider will talk to you about what type of surgery is best for your situation. Your doctor may also want to do other tests before or after surgery to make sure you are well and to find out if there is any new cancer cells.
The results of these tests can be combined with the information your doctor gets from other tests to determine if the cancer has spread and what stage it is in. Once the cancer has spread, treatments are different than they would be for local pancreatic cancers that are not metastatic.
