The tumor is usually silent and only gives signals in the advanced phases
The presenter and chef Edu Guedes made a Surgery Saturday 5as part of the treatment of A pancreas tumorIn San Paolo.
“It’s a silent tumor,” warns Thiago Jorge, oncologist at the Oncology Center specialized at the German hospital Oswaldo Cruz. “It is one of the tumors that has increased most in Brazil and in the world.”
According to the National Cancer Institute (Inca), about 10,980 new cases of duty in Brazil are estimated between 2023 and 2025. In 2020, the country reported 11,893 deaths due to illness.
What is pancreas?
Mayo Clinic, one of the most renowned medical institutions in the world, explains that the pancreas is about 15 centimeters and its shape recalls a pear lying aside.
It has two main functions. The first is to produce enzymes that help digestion, in particular proteins and fat – this is called exocrine function.
The pancreas is also responsible for the production of various hormones, in particular those related to the control of sugar (glucose) in the blood, such as the endocrine function of insulin and glucagon.
What types of pancreas cancer?
There are different types of pancreatic tumors. The two most common are:
- Adenocarcinoma: they are related to cells that produce digestive enzymes and represent most pancreas tumors – estimates range from 80% to 90%. He is very feared for his aggressive behavior, according to experts.
- Neuroendocrini: related to the cells that produce hormones, are divided by the degree of aggression. In general, less aggression is more common and treatment is often easier.
What are the symptoms of pancreas cancer?
There is no sign or symptom whose presence is synonymous with pancreas cancer, according to the Ministry of Health. “The position of the pancreas is such that, often, tumors grow much before causing any symptoms,” explains Paulo Hoff, president of the Oncology of OR.
In addition, “health workers cannot hear the pancreas during routine exams and it is difficult to see these tumors in routine imaging tests”, adds Cleveland Clinic, one of the main health institutions in the United States.
With all this, the tumor is often diagnosed in more advanced phases.
Some possible signs and symptoms are:
- weakness;
- weight loss;
- In appearance;
- Abdominal pain;
- dark urine;
- yellowish eyes and skin (jaundice);
- nausea;
- diarrhea;
- backache.
The recent diagnosis of diabetes should illuminate a warning signal, according to the Ministry of Health. “Both can be a risk factor for pancreas cancer and a clinical manifestation that precedes the diagnosis.”
Icteria is an important sign. When the tumor appears in the head of the pancreas, it can block the “channel” through which the bile passes, a substance produced by the liver. This channel joins the pancreas and leads to the bile to the intestine. If the path is obstructed, the bile accumulates and the person can become yellow.
Thiago Jorge comments that the pain presented by most patients is often described as “in the reach”. “It’s a pain in the belly, but it goes more to the back. Take the belt from the top of the abdomen.”
In addition, he adds that another shown symptom is a change in the feces model, known as steatorrhea, a diarrhea with excess fat. “Sometimes the person reports that he started to notice in the oil balls or in the floating and broken stool.”
Prevention
Unlike tumors such as breast and prostate, the pancreas does not yet have a prevention protocol. Currently, there are no recommendations for routine tests for monitoring diseases from a certain age.
Thiago Jorge explains that estimates point out that from 10 to 15% of pancreas tumors can have a hereditary origin. Therefore, people who have a history of family disease can be subjected to genetic tests – looking for mutations associated with higher risks – and have recommended to make periodic resonances.
The first diagnosed the tumor, the better the patient prognosis. This applies to all tumors.
The best hopes of having a preventive protocol for pancreatic tumors lies in improving liquid biopsies. These are exams that seek tumor DNA fragments in the patient’s blood flow.
“Although these exams are already on sale in the United States, the degree of success is only 65%. It still has a false positive and false negative. So it is not recommended to use these exams,” says Hoff.
The role of lifestyle
For the prevention of this tumor, doctors and health authorities recommend adopting a healthy lifestyle, which includes: avoid smoking; feed correctly; exercise regularly; and maintain body weight in the ideal range.
The latter recommendation is closely linked to what doctors have observed in recent decades: increase in cases of pancreatic tumors, as well as other tumors.
While a classic risk factor, smoking has fallen into the population, obesity and overweight have emerged as a new epidemic, which can explain this trend within neoplasms.
“This probably has to do with the lifestyle that we have guided in recent times,” says Thiago Jorge.
Pancreatic cancer usually appears from the age of 50 – especially in the seventh decade of life – but doctors feel that they have seen cases in younger patients at 40 years of age.
What is the treatment for pancreas cancer?
Pancreas cancer has a high mortality rate, above all because it is diagnosed in advanced phases. Although it represents about 1% of all types of cancer diagnosed in Brazil, it causes 5% of the total deaths caused by the disease, according to the Ministry of Health.
However, pancreas cancer yes has a treatment and will obviously depend on the type and stage in which it is diagnosed.
Experts comment that the first therapeutic decision will concern the possibility of surgery or not. This is the only option considered healing today, according to Thiago Jorge.
Even with a successful operation, patients such as adenocarcinoma are subjected to chemotherapy, since cancer can “go back” – which does not take the risk, but decreases considerably, according to experts.
Although chemotherapy is still the main treatment for most cases of pancreas carcinoma, target therapies are starting to emerge highlighters developed to act in specific tumor mutations, which accompany Thiago Jorge.
In the world, two have already been approved: Olaparbe, suitable for patients with mutations in the BRCA gene, and Adgrasibe, have focused on changes in the Kras gene. In Brazil, only the first is available, says the doctor.
“The reversal of the high lethality of pancreas cancer is a matter of time, since the general panorama is of great hope. The international effort to personalize the therapies is enormous and can soon be put into practice to reduce the lethality of pancreatic cancer”, comments João Paulo Fogacci de Farias, oncological, oncoclinicas, in material, in material.
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.
