The number of patients with diagnosis of this tumor has increased and has attracted the attention of institutions and experts. Understand the four reasons that help to explain this scenario.
The guitarist Titan Tony Bellotto announced on a video released on Instagram that he had been diagnosed with pancreas cancer after routine tests and subjected to surgery.
“I will temporarily move away from the stage, but the Titans follow the planned program, accompanied by the musician Alexandre De Orio. As soon as I recover, I will return the shows and my professional activities,” said Bellotto in the video.
“So, I want to thank the thoughts, words and messages of support and affection and asking you not to suffer. Without drama. I am quiet and confident, facing everything with courage and dignity.”
The pancreas is a gland responsible for the production of insulin, an essential hormone in the use of glucose as a source of energy for cells.
The early diagnosis of the disease is essential for the prognosis, allowing less invasive treatments and possibilities of healing.
What are the symptoms of the disease
This type of cancer is more common in people over 60 and has a higher impact among men.
The common symptoms of pancreas cancer include:
- Stomach pain and back pain
- Weight loss for no reason
- Indigestion
- Change the intestinal habits, like the feces that float
Other tests are:
- Loss of appetite
- Jaundice leather or eye eye)
- Feel bad
- Swallow
- Recent diagnosis of diabetes
Mortality
Every two or three years, the National Cancer Institute (Inca) publishes a document in which it issues projections on the number of cases and deaths relating to the most common tumors of the Brazilian population.
“And for the first time in the historical series, Inca included in 2023 pancreatic cancer as one of the most frequent in the country”, says the Marian clinical oncologist Bruna Siqueira, of D’Nchology in Rio de Janeiro.
“The increase in the incidence of this tumor takes place in the most developed regions from an economic point of view and already appears among the ten tumors that affect most women from the South, South -est and Midwest”, adds the expert, which also integrates the institution for research and teaching.
Inc estimates that 10,980 cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed by 2023.
The dead are also increasing. Between 2011 and 2020, deaths per year relating to this disease increased from 7,700 to 11,800, with an increase of over 50%.
In absolute numbers, the Inca estimates that in 2020 this disease killed 5,882 men and 6,011 women. This makes this tumor the seventh more mortal for them and the fifth for them.
Remember that the pancreas is a gland responsible for the production of insulin, an essential hormone in the use of glucose as a source of energy for cells.
And the trend of climbing is not only national: in the United States, scientists point out that pancreas cancer will become the second more lethal type, behind only lung tumors. The numbers of cases will also increase by over 65% between Americans in the next two decades.
But what justifies this change of scenario? Behind this increase, there are at least four reasons: the aging of the population, the lifestyle, the late symptoms and the aggression of the picture.
Longevity and inadequate habits
Dr. Duílio Rocha, director of the Brazilian Society of Clinical Oncology, underlines that pancreas cancer is a condition that usually appears in more advanced individuals.
“Therefore, the aging of the population contributes to this increase,” he says.
“The average age of the diagnosis is 70 years. And Brazil has exceeded only a life expectancy more than seven decades since 2000”, adds the expert, who is also at the head of the oncological university university hospital in Walter Cantídio di Fortaleza.
That is: if people live more, it is natural that a greater number of them develops a tumor in gland.
The second factor has to do with the lifestyle adopted, especially in the most developed places.
“Most of the scientific community believes that an increase in cases is directly related to changes in habits in generations born since 1970, as the highest consumption of ultra elaborate and full of saturated fats and the increase in the proportion of sedentary and obese people”, Rocha list.
All these changes are related to a general increase in chronic diseases not transmitted, such as hypertension, diabetes and various tumors, such as those that affect pancreas.
Speaking of diabetes, researchers have many doubts about what the relationship between the two frames is. After all, do diabetes patients have a greater risk of pancreas cancer? Or is it the tumor in the gland that produces insulin that causes non -controlled blood sugar levels?
“It is not yet sure if diabetes is a cause or consequence of this scenario. However, we face this disease as a further risk factor for pancreas cancer,” says Siqueira.
Silent and aggressive
Finally, one of the great barriers when it comes to pancreas cancer is late diagnosis.
“Only 15-20% of patients are identified when the disease is in gland and has not spread to other parts of the body,” says Siqueira.
In general, detecting the frame in the initial development phases is the main way to ensure less invasive and greater treatment treatment.
This, however, is not reality for the most of the time. “The symptoms of pancreas cancer usually appear in an advanced phase and are very generic, that is, they are confused with a series of other possible diseases”, characterizes Rocha.
Among the main events of this tumor, doctors highlight weight loss, abdomen or back pain and changes in the skin and eyes, which obtain a yellowish appearance.
The latter sign has to do with the growth of the tumor and the strengthening of the structures around, such as the ducts that connect the liver to the liver.
There is also no routine examination that can soon capture the disease, in similar mammographic molds for the breast and pap test on the cervix.
The last factor behind the rise of pancreatic tumors has to do with the features of this condition themselves.
“It is a more aggressive disease. Even if patients operated have a smaller survival than other tumors,” says Siqueira.
“In the tailor -based cancer with surgery, for example, there is a possibility of care that exceeds 80%. In a pancreatic tumor that brings together similar conditions, this rate is 30%”, adds the oncologist.
The counterattack of medicine
But not everything is bad news when it comes to pancreas cancer.
“For a long time, we had the idea that this was a tumor against which very little could have done,” recalls Rocha.
“But in recent years we have had a series of progress that have improved this scenario. Today the possibility of healing is six times greater than two decades ago, especially when we are able to use the best tools to diagnose and treat soon,” he adds.
When the gland tumor is detected in the early stages, surgery is often the first alternative to the management of the problem.
Now, if the disease has evolved or spread in other parts of the body, health professionals appeal to chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
In some cases, the chemical itself can reduce the tumor, which opens the possibility of surgery to remove the lesions located in the gland.
Even the most advanced options begin to play. One is immunotherapy, a class of medicines that stimulates the patient’s immune system to fight cancer cells.
“For now, these medicines are available only for people with a specific genetic mutation, which corresponds to about 1% of cases,” says Siqueira.
Another recent novelty is the use of Car-T cells, a method already approved as blood cancers that consists in the extraction of immunological cells from the patient himself, modifying them in the laboratory and reintroducing them in the body, to recognize and attack the tumor.
“This, however, is still an experimental treatment that must be more studied”, meditates on the clinical oncologist.
Although pancreatic transplant is an option for patients with diabetes who have serious complications, it is not available as a cancer treatment. This is because this surgery requires the use of drugs inhibits the immune system – which, in a patient with this tumor, would spread faster than cancer cells to other parts of the body.
If the therapeutic prospects against pancreas cancer evolve, the guidelines to prevent the disease remain the same.
“Our main recommendation to avoid such a disease is to look for healthy life habits,” suggests Rocha.
“This includes the maintenance of adequate weight, a diet based on vegetable sources and a saturated saturated fat of saturated, practicing physical activity and avoid smoking”, concludes the doctor.
This text was originally published in February 2023 and updated after Tony Bellotto’s diagnosis.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
