How to detect early pancreatic cancer

The early detection rate of pancreatic cancer in China is only 7%. Due to the low early diagnosis rate, low surgical resection rate and high mortality rate, pancreatic cancer is called the "king of cancer" and needs to be taken seriously and vigilant. The reasons why pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages can be summarized as follows:

1. The incidence of pancreatic cancer is low, only about one in ten thousand. Clinicians have insufficient awareness of this, especially internal medicine physicians, who always give priority to common and frequently occurring diseases, which is also a routine procedure in the diagnosis and treatment process.

2. The anatomical location of the pancreas determines that its clinical symptoms are hidden. Since the pancreas is a retroperitoneal organ of the human body, it is located deep and covered by the stomach and cross-section layer. It is difficult to detect early pancreatic tumors with a smaller diameter with conventional B-ultrasound examinations. If the diameter is larger, it is not easy to capture the "clues" of early pancreatic cancer in a timely and accurate manner, because the results of B-ultrasound examinations depend to a large extent on the clinical experience and subjective judgment of the B-ultrasound physician. Although PET-CT is the most effective diagnostic equipment for detecting early pancreatic cancer, due to its high cost, it is difficult for ordinary citizens to be examined in daily physical examinations. Pancreatic cancer mainly manifests as non-specific symptoms, such as upper abdominal pain and discomfort, indigestion, back pain, etc. The symptoms can be relieved after symptomatic treatment, which delays the best time for diagnosis and treatment.

3. Pancreatic cancer itself progresses rapidly, with a natural course of 3-6 months after diagnosis. Due to its rapid progression, the time window for surgical intervention is relatively narrow.

4. So far, the sensitivity and specificity of tumor indicators for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer are not high, which is one of the reasons why pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect early. In the examination and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, CT and PET-CT examinations are undoubtedly the two most effective examination methods. CT examination can show the location and size of pancreatic cancer, the presence or absence of pancreatic duct or bile duct dilatation, vascular invasion, lymph node metastasis and other signs. At present, the most effective examination method for diagnosing pancreatic tumors is spiral CT enhanced scanning.

In order to detect pancreatic cancer early, ordinary citizens should beware of the "non-specific symptoms" of pancreatic cancer. Usually, pancreatic cancer will show symptoms such as abdominal pain, indigestion, back pain, etc. in the early stage. Ordinary citizens should be vigilant about these clues. Once the above symptoms appear, they should first go to the pancreatic hepatobiliary surgery or general surgery department of the hospital to rule out the possibility of pancreatic cancer, and then go to the relevant internal medicine department for further treatment. Do not delay the disease due to inappropriate treatment.

99 Warm reminder: Many patients often fail to receive timely treatment due to those reasons, miss the best treatment time and thus cannot be cured. Therefore, we should pay more attention to our bodies in normal times and get checked as soon as possible if there is any abnormality.