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Pancreatic Cancer - Vitamin D Decreases Risk Up TO 50%!

By: Richard H Ealom INTRODUCTION: Cancer of the pancreas is a disease in which cancerous cells form in the tissues of the pancreas a large organ that lies horizontally behind the lower area of your stomach. The disease is difficult to locate and diagnose for the following reasons: There aren't any visible signs or symptoms in its early stages. It usually metastasizes (spreads) rapidly and is rarely detected in its early stages, which is a major reason why it's a leading cause of deaths due to cancer. Pancreatic cancer often has a poor prognosis, even when diagnosed early and sometimes result in diabetes.

TYPES: Several different kinds of cancer can develop in the pancreas. The pancreas contains two different kinds of glands: exocrine and endocrine. The exocrine cells and endocrine cells of the pancreas produce completely different types of tumors. These are far and away the most common kinds of cancer of the pancreas.

Less common types of ductal cancers of the exocrine pancreas include adenosquamous carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, and giant cell carcinomas. These types are distinguished from one another based on how they look under the microscope. But the type of exocrine pancreatic cancer isn't as important as the stage (extent) of the cancer when it comes to treatment.

SYMPTOMS: Early diagnosis is hard because the symptoms are usually non-specific and varied. Typical symptoms include pain in the upper abdomen that often radiates to the back and is eased by leaning forward (seen in carcinoma of the body or tail of the pancreas), loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss and painless jaundice (eye and skin yellowing) related to bile duct obstruction (carcinoma of the head of the pancreas).

The disease is usually found during the course of evaluating the above symptoms. Patients diagnosed with it typically have a poor prognosis partly because the cancer usually produces no symptoms early on, leading to locally advanced or metastatic disease by the time of diagnosis. Signs and symptoms may not show up until the cancer is quite advanced and removal by surgery isn't possible.

Patients typically report the gradual onset of nonspecific symptoms such as anorexia, malaise, nausea, fatigue, and midepigastric or back pain. These initial symptoms can be easily attributed to other processes unless a physician has a high index of suspicion for the possibility of underlying pancreatic carcinoma. Delayed diagnosis is a common problem in patients with pancreatic cancer, with fewer than a third of patients being diagnosed within 2 months of the onset of their symptoms. All of these symptoms can have multiple other causes.

RISK: Age is the most significant risk factor for pancreatic carcinoma. Risk factors include smoking, certain familial cancer syndromes, and familial chronic pancreatitis. Smoking is the most common environmental risk factor for pancreatic carcinoma. Cigarette smoking nearly doubles one's risk, and the risk persists for at least a decade after quitting.

A number of studies including one published on 1 June 2007, indicate that B vitamins such as B12, B6, and folate, can decrease the risk of pancreatic cancer when consumed in food, but NOT when taken in vitamin tablet form. In September 2006, a long-term study concluded that taking Vitamin D can greatly cut the risk of pancreatic carcinoma (as well as other cancers) by as much as 50%.

Obesity has been identified as a possible risk factor for pancreatic cancer and may contribute to the higher incidence of this disease among blacks. Alcohol consumption does not appear to be an independent risk factor unless it is associated with chronic pancreatitis. Also, despite early reports to the contrary, coffee consumption does not appear to be an independent risk factor for pancreatic carcinoma.

TREATMENT: The first goal of pancreatic cancer treatment is to eliminate the cancer, when possible. Treatment depends on the stage and location of the cancer as well as on your age, overall health and personal preferences.

Resection surgery is the only potentially curative treatment for persons with Cancer of the pancreas, although many patients are not candidates for this procedure. When the disease is advanced and treatments aren't likely to provide any benefits, your MD may propose ways to relieve symptoms and make you as comfortable as possible Or...he/she may recommend a combination of radiation and chemotherapy treatments when your cancer can't be treated surgically.

Clinical trials are studies to test new forms of treatment, such as new drugs, new approaches to surgery or radiation treatments, and novel methods such as gene therapy. If the treatment being studied proves to be safer or more effective than are current treatments, it will become the new standard of care.

New treatments currently being investigated in clinical trials include: Drugs that stop cancer from growing new blood vessels. Cancer treatment vaccines using various strategies to enhance the immune system to help it recognize cancer cells as the enemy.

CONCLUSION: Cancer of the pancreas is a malignant tumor of the pancreas. It is hard to detect and diagnose early and is most often diagnosed with tests and procedures that produce pictures of the pancreas and the area surrounding it. Risk factors include: Age, Male gender, African-American ethnicity, Tobacco smoking, Diets high in red meat, Obesity, Diabetes mellitus.

Also: Chronic pancreatitis has been linked, but is not known to be causal, Helicobacter pylori infection, Occupational exposure to certain pesticides, dyes, and chemicals related to gasoline, Family history, 5-10% of patients have a family history of pancreatic cancer. Alcohol might also be a risk factor. The disease has a five-year survival rate of less than 5 percent, and currently there is no effective chemotherapy or radiation therapy for it.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

About the author: Richard H. Ealom is an ezinearticles.com writer with more than 50 articles on Diseases,Causes,Cures. To find out more about Pancreatic Cancer visit Cancer Breakthrough USA! You have permission to use this article as long as this box is kept unchanged.

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