What are the early symptoms of pancreatic cancer patients

Pancreatic cancer is a very dangerous malignant tumor. Its incidence rate is increasing year by year worldwide. It is more common in men. The peak age is 50 to 70 years old. The early symptoms of pancreatic cancer patients are not obvious. The possible symptoms and signs are as follows:

1. Upper abdominal distension or pain and abdominal pain. Pancreatic cancer patients often have various degrees of upper abdominal distension, pain or indescribable discomfort. This symptom often appears early. As the disease progresses, it turns into abdominal pain. The location of abdominal pain is often deep and difficult to accurately locate. It is usually in the upper abdomen or above the navel. The location of abdominal pain in pancreatic head cancer is biased towards the right upper abdomen, while pancreatic body and tail cancer is biased towards the left upper abdomen. In a few cases, abdominal pain may occur around the navel or even in the right or left lower abdomen. Late cases often have pain in the waist and back, sometimes in the form of a band. It is often related to body position, which is aggravated when lying on your back, and slightly relieved when bending over or sitting forward or lying on your side. Patients often dare not lie flat at night and take a sitting position leaning forward, or even kneeling, so that they cannot fall asleep. This forced posture is a characteristic of pancreatic cancer, especially body and tail cancer.

2. Jaundice Jaundice is obstructive, accompanied by dark yellow urine and clay-like stools. It is caused by the lower end of the common bile duct being invaded or compressed. Jaundice is progressive. Although there are slight fluctuations, it is impossible to completely disappear. Jaundice is temporarily relieved. In the early stage, it is related to the disappearance of inflammation around the ampullary area. In the late stage, it is due to the ulceration and sloughing of the tumor that invades the lower end of the common bile duct. The jaundice caused by ampullary tumors is more likely to fluctuate. Jaundice only occurs in pancreatic body and tail cancer when the tumor spreads to the pancreatic head. In addition, there is clinical obstructive jaundice with enlarged gallbladder without tenderness, which is called Courvoisier sign. It has diagnostic significance for pancreatic head cancer, but the positive rate is not high.

3. Weight loss Among digestive tract tumors, pancreatic cancer causes the most weight loss, with pancreatic body and tail cancer being the most common. Weight loss can be 10kg or more within a month, and some can reach more than 30kg within 2 to 3 months. The reason for weight loss is loss of appetite, reduced food intake, or unwillingness to eat due to upper abdominal discomfort or abdominal pain after eating. In addition, poor pancreatic exocrine function or obstruction of pancreatic juice outflow through the pancreatic duct, which affects digestion and absorption functions, is also related.

4. Gastrointestinal symptoms Pancreatic cancer often causes various gastrointestinal symptoms of varying degrees, the most common of which are loss of appetite and indigestion.