Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren vogebam here. Of all of the forms
Speaker 1: of cancer, pancreatic is one of the most dreaded diagnoses.
Speaker 1: The five year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is just
Speaker 1: ten according to the American Cancer Society, though that number
Speaker 1: does represent an improvement over what the survival rate was
Speaker 1: just a decade ago inn, which was only six percent.
Speaker 1: Although the disease has publicly affected icons like Jeopardy host
Speaker 1: Alex Trebec and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, most
Speaker 1: people still have a pretty limited understanding of it. So
Speaker 1: how is it that cancer of such a small organ
Speaker 1: can cause so much trouble and why is the survival
Speaker 1: rates so low? First, it's important to have a grasp
Speaker 1: on where the pancreas is and what it does. About
Speaker 1: six to ten inches that's fifteen long. The pancreas sits
Speaker 1: in the upper left ab been behind the stomach, and
Speaker 1: is surrounded on all sides by other more prominent organs
Speaker 1: like the liver, small intestine, and spleen. The pancreas has
Speaker 1: some big functions, though, like creating and dispensing hormones that
Speaker 1: regulate blood sugar, as well as enzymes that help the
Speaker 1: body digest proteins, fat, and carbohydrates. When the pancreas gets
Speaker 1: out of whack, our health tends to decline pretty quickly,
Speaker 1: and much like ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer is often caught
Speaker 1: at a later stage than other types of cancer. For
Speaker 1: the article, this episode is based on How Stuff Work.
Speaker 1: Spoke by email with Dr Victoria Mannix Bretzon, then chief
Speaker 1: medical officer with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network or pan CAN.
Speaker 1: She said there is no standard early detection test for
Speaker 1: pancreatic cancer, and the presenting symptoms may be vague. As
Speaker 1: a result, most cases are diagnosed once the disease has
Speaker 1: reached an advanced stage, making it more difficult to treat
Speaker 1: a Typical symptoms of pancreatic cancer, which are often mistaken
Speaker 1: for other ailments, include weight loss, jaundice, which is yellowing
Speaker 1: of the eyes and or skin, nausea, changes in stool
Speaker 1: or appetite, pancreatis, recent onset diabetes, and or sudden pain,
Speaker 1: typically in the back or abdomen. If pancreatic cancer is suspected,
Speaker 1: the disease is diagnosed by taking tissue samples as well
Speaker 1: as imaging tests. Most cases of pancreatic cancer occur among
Speaker 1: the older population, with diagnoses in people over fifty five
Speaker 1: and in people over sixty. In the United States, it's
Speaker 1: more common in men than women. Although none of those
Speaker 1: risk factors can be controlled, others can. Man express And
Speaker 1: said the cause of the majority of pancreatic cancer cases
Speaker 1: is unknown, but there is evidence that age, smoking, being overweight,
Speaker 1: family history of pancreatic cancer, pancreatis and diabetes may increase
Speaker 1: your risk of pancreatic cancer. Much like other cancers, pancreatic
Speaker 1: cancer treatment varies based on stage as well as the
Speaker 1: patient's general health. In the rare instances, when it's caught
Speaker 1: early enough, surgery is an option. However, patients in advanced
Speaker 1: stages are generally directed to chemotherapy. A manics Breton said
Speaker 1: it's not unusual for pancreatic cancer patients to initially respond
Speaker 1: well and then to require further treatment. In fact, that's
Speaker 1: what Trebec reported. He had stage four cancer and was
Speaker 1: near remission in May nineteen, but needed a second round
Speaker 1: of chemotherapy by September of the same year. Not all
Speaker 1: pancreatic cancer tumors are the same, however, but which is
Speaker 1: why Pancan recommends that patients have their tumor molecularly profiled.
Speaker 1: This can help to better pinpoint ideal treatment options because
Speaker 1: the treating physician will more fully understand the biology of
Speaker 1: the tumor. They also recommend clinical trials both that diagnosis
Speaker 1: and re subsequent treatment decision, which may include chemotherapy, targeted therapy,
Speaker 1: and immunotherapy. Some people do turn out to have a
Speaker 1: more benign form of the disease. The Ginsburg, for example,
Speaker 1: lived over ten years after her diagnosis. It's unknown what
Speaker 1: her type of pancreatic cancer was, but around ten to
Speaker 1: fifteen percent of cases are a less aggressive form called
Speaker 1: islet cell tumors. Although no screening is available today, the
Speaker 1: hope is that it will be in the near future.
Speaker 1: Scientists are currently working to identify biomarkers, which are biological
Speaker 1: clues that could serve as warning signs for the early,
Speaker 1: more treatable stages of the disease. These biomarkers are present
Speaker 1: in bodily specimens such as blood, urine, and pancreatic fluid.
Speaker 1: Men Expresson said there are also studies to improve upon
Speaker 1: current imaging techniques to allow doctors to see smaller indications
Speaker 1: of disease. Doctors also have to figure out exactly who
Speaker 1: would benefit from disease screening. Men express It explained many
Speaker 1: efforts focus on people with strong family histories of pancreatic
Speaker 1: cancer or known genetic syndromes linked to the disease. Newer
Speaker 1: studies are evaluating individuals over the age of fifty with
Speaker 1: new onset of diabetes and other clinical symptoms. If you're
Speaker 1: concerned about your pancreatic cancer risk, go to pancan dot org.
Speaker 1: That's p A n c A n dot org to
Speaker 1: find out more about the risk factors, symptoms, and diagnoses.
Speaker 1: They're not a sponsor, just a good organization. Today's episode
Speaker 1: is based on the article why is Pancreatic Cancer So Deadly?
Speaker 1: On how stuff works dot com, written by Leo Hoyt.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio and partnership
Speaker 1: with how stuff works dot Com, and it is produced
Speaker 1: by Tyler Clay. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit
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