Disease Definition
The pancreas is a 15 cm long, stomach, duodenum, and large intestine (colon) that is located in the rearmost part of the abdomen and is completely closed anteriorly. is the organ. Although it has many important tasks, it plays an important role in the digestion of food and in keeping blood sugar in balance. Although pancreatic cancers develop from every region of the organ, it most commonly develops from the head region. Again, they originate from the most frequently secreting cells and are called adenocancer.
Pancreatic cancer is a difficult cancer to diagnose and treat, and is considered the fourth deadliest cancer in the world. Pancreatic cancer, for which an effective drug treatment has not yet been developed despite modern methods, can only be intervened with surgical methods. The disease, which generally spreads rapidly, is mostly seen after the age of 60 and early diagnosis in pancreatic cancer is accepted as the most important factor for the treatment of the disease.
Symptoms;
Jaundice is usually painless and occurs when there is biliary tract obstruction. Jaundice may not be seen in cancers of the body and tail of the pancreas. Itching on the skin may be a preliminary sign of jaundice.
Abdominal pain in the upper abdomen that may spread to the back (Pain partially decreases when leaning forward, increases after meals)
Anorexia, early satiety, indigestion, bloating and gas that does not respond to treatments
Disruption of taste in the mouth, bad odors and disgust with food
Weakness, weight loss
Unexplained low back pain
New and sudden onset diabetes disease
Depression state
Oily stools (Stools turn pale, have a bad odor, are not easily cleaned by flushing the stool)
Some factors that can cause pancreatic cancer;
Smoking: is responsible for about 30% of pancreatic cancers .
Age: Advanced age is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer� �r.
Nutrition habit: People who have a high-calorie and protein-based diet devoid of fruits and vegetables have higher rates of pancreatic cancer.
Obesity: It is thought that people with a high body mass index (BMI) are more prone to pancreatic cancer than those with a low BMI.
Occupational exposure: People exposed to petroleum products and other chemicals have an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
Chronic pancreatitis:
strong> Long-term, untreated chronic pancreatic inflammatory condition increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.Diabetes: Diabetes has a higher incidence of pancreatic cancer than healthy individuals. doubles it. Diabetes mellitus is observed in 60-80% of pancreatic cancer patients.
Diagnosis of pancreatic cancer
Methods used in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer ultrasound (US) , endoscopy includes ultrasound (EUS), computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and sometimes positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
Staging
The next step after the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is to determine the extent of the disease in order to plan the most appropriate treatment. Generally, the methods used in the diagnosis phase are sufficient for this task. The staging is done according to the diameter of the tumor, its relationship with the surrounding tissues, and whether it has spread to distant organs. Cancer cells can spread throughout the body through lymph or blood. We call this condition 'metastasis'.
Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
Surgery is often the only way to cure pancreatic cancer. However, if the cancer spreads to the whole body, surgical treatment does not give results. A certain part or all of the pancreas can be removed with surgery. Removal of the entire pancreas is called total pancreatectomy. When the tumor is in the head of the pancreas, "Whipple surgery" can be performed, and pancreatic resections can be performed in the trunk and tail parts. Open and closed (laparoscopic, robotic) surgical techniques are available. Ke in advanced pancreatic tumors Treatment methods such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be applied.
Whipple Surgery
In the applied Whipple surgery; Along with the head of the pancreas, the gallbladder, part of the main bile duct, duodenum, part of the stomach and surrounding lymph nodes are removed as a block. During or shortly after this surgery, in which a wide variety of organs are removed and re-established for a very long period of time, the patient may experience death (mortality) or bleeding, and poor conditions (morbidity) such as leakage from the sutures (fistula) made to ensure the continuity of the digestive system.
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