Hi Blondie,
Unfortunately, pancreatic cancer is usually not diagnosed until it has
metastasized to other organs. At this point the patient will have to
be treated not only for the pancreatic cancer but also for the other
cancers, which may be pretty difficult. Treatment will be different
depending on whether the cancer has spread through the lymph nodes and
blood than if is it locally spread to nearby organs. Pancreatic
cancer is a notriously difficult cancer to treat - and is the fifth
most lethal form, according to the National Pancreas Foundation.
Jaundice happens if the tumor in the pancreas blocks the common bile
duct such that bile can't pass into the intestines. This doesn't
always happen in cases of pancreatic cancer, and can happen early or
late in the course of the disease.
I think you will find the following websites helpful:
National Pancreas Foundation: Learn about Pancreatic Cancer
http://www.pancreasfoundation.org/learn/pancreaticcancer.shtml
National Cancer Institute: General Information about Pancreatic Cancer
http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdq/treatment/pancreatic/patient/
American Cancer Society: Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer by Stage
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_4_4x_treatment_of_pancreatic_cancer_by_stage_34.asp?sitearea=cri
This site in particular will be helpful to you for your treatment questions.
I found these three by looking through the various sites listed at the
MedlinePlus Pancreatic Cancer health topic
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pancreaticcancer.html).
MedlinePlus is an extremely valuable service of the National Library
of Medicine - it indexes good websites on health issues from
governmental, non-profit, and educational institutions.
Please let me know if/how I can clarify this answer for you, if you need it!
Librariankt |
