Pancreas Cancer

Pancreas cancer is a very serious form of cancer and is defined as
cancer of the cells that form the tissues of the pancreas.  The role of
the pancreas in the human body is very important, and secretes enzymes
that help with digestion and regulate hormones that help metabolize
carbohydrates. 

Pancreas cancer is very dangerous because
it is usually not detected until the cancer is quite advanced. 
Pancreas cancer is also dangerous because it spreads incredibly fast
and has usually spread to other parts of the body before the cancer is
detected, usually at a time when surgical removal of the cancer is no
longer possible.  Because of these reasons, pancreas cancer is the
leading cause of cancer deaths.

Since pancreas cancer is
hard to detect, it is important to be aware of the symptoms of the
disease, and to seek doctor’s advice is any of the symptoms are
present. One of the symptoms includes upper abdominal pain which
sometimes moves towards the middle and upper back that can heighten
after eating or when lying down.  Another symptom of pancreas cancer is
the loss of appetite and weight loss that is not intentional.  In fact,
unintentional weight loss is usually a sign of most types of cancer
because the cancerous cells prevent the healthy cells from absorbing
any nutrients. Another symptom of pancreas cancer is the yellowing of
the skin and white of the eyes, also called jaundice.  This is one of
the main symptoms of pancreas cancer and affects over half of the
pancreas cancer victims.  Still another symptom of pancreas cancer is
itching, which usually occurs in the later stages of the disease. The
reason people begin to itch is because higher levels of bile acids and
other bile components accumulate in the skin.  Pancreas cancer is a
very serious form of cancer, and unfortunately one of the hardest types
of cancer to detect.