A Succinct Understanding of Typical Symptoms Tied to Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer symptoms are frequently hard to detect, meaning this potentially deadly disease is very difficult to diagnose early. It's crucial that patients know that most of these evidences won't exhibit themselves until after the cancer is in a progressed state. For an overview of common symptoms, keep reading.

Stomach Pains

Among the basic pancreatic cancer symptoms is a soreness or pain in the high abdomen. Patients often complain that the pain spreads through the area and around to their back. Many people going through this type of discomfort will often experience alleviation once they lean forward. 

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.

Weight Loss

Weight loss and a decreased appetite are often typical symptoms affiliated with pancreatic cancer. Regrettably, these are also common signs often associated with other afflictions and diseases, particular those affecting the digestive system.

Jaundice

Since pancreatic cancer can block the bile duct - which flows partly through the head of the pancreas - jaundice is a frequent symptom of the disease. Tumors that develop on the pancreas are typically the root of jaundice development, which is characterized by a yellowing of the skin.

Typically, jaundice for patients with pancreatic cancer is accompanied by dark urine and pruritus, or itching. Approximately half of pancreatic cancer patients with local forms of the disease experience painful jaundice while the other half with a curable or resectable lesion experience painless yellowing of the skin.

Trusseau Sign

Trusseau Sign is a secondary affliction that causes grumes or blood clots to develop in hepatic portal veins, abstruse veins and surface veins without warning. While not exclusive to patients with pancreatic cancer, it is often associated with the disease.

Clinical Depression

Though not as exhaustively accounted or referenced, depression is a subtle side effect of pancreatic cancer. The clinical depression often develops even before the disease is detected. Doctors and researchers are still unsure why or how the two connect.

Diagnosing Pancreatic Cancer

To properly diagnose pancreatic cancer, your doctor must either do a liver function test or check for certain markers, like CA19-9, which indicate the presence of pancreatic cancer when detected in high amounts. Most patients are not screened until the above symptoms are presented.

CT scans and ultrasounds are other common methods of detecting pancreatic cancer and used to detect visible tumors or lesions. An endoscopic ultrasound or biopsy can also be used to obtain and test tissue samples.

Early Screening for Pancreatic Cancer

If you have two or more immediate family members (or three or more extended relatives) who have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer symptoms, you should ask your doctor about early screening for the disease. Pancreatic cancer symptoms often don't present themselves until it is too late, making early screening critical for those at risk.