The pancreas is less known, but one of the most vital organs in our body. It is responsible for converting the food we eat into fuel to give energy to our body's cells. The pancreas has an exocrine function that assists digestion and an endocrine function responsible for regulating blood sugar. 

Your pancreas is an integral component of the digestive system and has a crucial role in digestion. It lies inside the abdomen and just behind your stomach. The size of the pancreas is the size of the hand. 

The pancreas secretes pancreatic juices or enzymes which break down fats, sugars, and starches. The pancreas also synthesizes hormones and aids in digestion. These hormones are chemical messengers and travel through your blood. Pancreatic hormones regulate your blood glucose levels and stimulate stomach acid to tell your stomach when it is empty.

What is pancreatic cancer?

The pancreas can have both cancerous and non-cancerous growths. Pancreatic cancer is a rare type of cancer but with high mortality rates. The most common type of pancreatic cancer is the one that begins in the cells lining the ducts carrying digestive enzymes out of the pancreas. This type is called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

It is rare for pancreatic cancer to get detected at the early stages since, in the initial stages, it often doesn't cause symptoms. One can experience the symptoms mostly when cancer has spread to other organs.

What are the signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer?

Some common signs and symptoms of the pancreatic cancer are:

• Pain in the abdomen that radiates to the back
• Loss of appetite 
• Unintended weight loss
• Yellow discoloration of the skin 
• Discoloration of your eyes 
• Pale colored stools
• Dark urine
• Itchy skin
• Recently diagnosed diabetes 
• Uncontrollable existing diabetes 
• Blood clots
• Lassitude and fatigue 

How pancreatic cancer develops?

Sometimes cells in your pancreas show abnormal changes called mutations. These changes develop in their DNA.

DNA is like an instructor for cells and tells the cells when to grow and how to grow. The mutated DNAs make cells grow abnormally and continue living even after the death of healthy cells. Thus there is amassing of these abnormal cells over a period that can form a mass or tumor. 

Pancreatic cancer cells can spread to nearby organs, blood vessels, and other body parts in the advanced stages of cancer.

Most pancreatic cancer originates in the cells lining the pancreatic ducts. This type of pancreatic cancer is called pancreatic exocrine cancer or pancreatic adenocarcinoma. 

Sometimes cancer can originate in the hormone-producing cells, also called neuroendocrine cells of the pancreas. This type of cancer is called pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor or islet cell tumor, or pancreatic endocrine cancer.

What are the causes of pancreatic cancer?

The exact cause of pancreatic cancer is still unknown. Some researchers insisted on genetic or hereditary causes, while others focussed on lifestyle-related factors. 

What are the common risk factors associated with pancreatic cancer?

Some factors that may increase your susceptibility to pancreatic cancer are:

• Smoking and other form of tobacco usage
• High blood glucose levels or diabetes
• Pancreatitis or chronic inflammation of the pancreas 
• Family history of genetic syndromes, such as: 

1. BRCA2 gene mutation
2. Lynch syndrome
3. Familial atypical mole-malignant melanoma (FAMMM) syndrome

• Family history of pancreatic cancer
• Obesity
• Old age. Pancreatic cancer is more common in people above 65 years.

According to one research, old age, diabetes, and obesity, if present together, can make a person more susceptible to pancreatic cancer than these risk factors present in isolation. 

What are the complications associated with pancreatic cancer?

As pancreatic cancer becomes more aggressive, it can cause some complications such as:

Weight loss

Pancreatic cancer may cause weight loss due to the following reasons:

• Cancer cells need more energy to thrive and thus take nutrients dedicated to other body parts
• Nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy treatments cause anorexia
• Decrease in appetite due to tumor pressing on the stomach
• Difficulty in metabolizing food and nutrients due to scarcity of pancreatic digestive juices 

Jaundice

Sometimes, the tumor mass can block the liver's bile duct, leading to jaundice. 

Some of the common signs of jaundice include: 

• Yellow skin and eyes
• Dark-colored urine
• Pale-colored stools 

To treat jaundice associated with pancreatic cancer, the doctor may recommend a stent (plastic or metal tube) inside the bile duct to keep it open. The procedure is called Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography or ERCP. During ERCP, the surgeon passes an endoscope through the throat and abdomen into the upper part of the small intestine. Then using a dye injected into bile and pancreatic ducts via a small hollow tube (catheter), the doctor takes the images to assess the blockage and inserts the stent. 

Severe Pain 

The tumor mass may suppress nerves in your abdomen, resulting a pain that sometimes becomes intolerable. 

This pain may get reduced with treatment (chemotherapy and radiotherapy) due to a decrease in tumor mass. 

Sometimes doctors prescribe painkillers to reduce the intensity of pain. In severe cases, the doctor may inject alcohol directly into the nerves responsible for the pain sensation in the abdomen. The procedure is called celiac plexus block.

Bowel obstruction.

Some pancreatic cancer grows into or presses the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. It can block the movement of digested food from the stomach into the intestines, thus causing bowel obstruction. 

The doctor may insert a stent into the small intestine to keep it open. Sometimes in severe cases, the doctor places a temporary feeding tube or surgically creates a connection between the abdomen and the lower part of your abdomen. 

The Conclusion:

Pancreatic cancer is a relatively uncommon cancer but has high mortality rates. Though the exact cause of cancer is unknown, some lifestyle changes can decrease our susceptibility to it. 

Some of these changes are:

• Quit smoking
• Maintain a healthy body weight
• Choose a healthy and balanced diet full of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. 

The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are evident only in advanced stages. Therefore go for regular health checkups to increase your chances of early detection.