What are the common symptoms of pancreatic cancer patients

Clinical manifestations depend on the location of the tumor, the course of the disease, the degree of pancreatic damage, and the infiltration and metastasis of adjacent organs. Generally speaking, the onset is insidious, with no special symptoms in the early stage. Patients may complain of upper abdominal discomfort, a significant loss of appetite, and fatigue. When obvious symptoms appear, the course of the disease is often in the late stage. It is characterized by a short course of disease, rapid progression, and rapid deterioration.

1. Upper abdominal distension and discomfort. Upper abdominal pain is the earliest symptom. Due to the obstruction of the pancreatic duct, the pressure of the pancreatic duct increases, and even the small pancreatic duct ruptures, and the pancreatic fluid overflows into the pancreatic tissue, causing chronic inflammation. Therefore, upper abdominal distension or pain occurs, and radiates to the shoulders, back, or waist and ribs. Most patients with pancreatic head cancer have upper abdominal distension or abdominal pain after eating, while abdominal pain symptoms in pancreatic body and tail cancer are often in the late stage, and the abdominal pain is in the left upper abdomen or around the navel. Late-stage pancreatic cancer presents with persistent upper abdominal pain and back pain. The abdominal pain is often severe and does not stop day and night, affecting sleep and diet, and the patient often takes the knee and elbow position to seek relief. This pain is caused by the invasion of the retroperitoneal nerve tissue by the cancer.

2. Digestive tract symptoms: In the early stage, there is upper abdominal distension, loss of appetite, indigestion, and diarrhea. The upper abdominal distension does not disappear after diarrhea, and there is loss of appetite in the later stage. Nausea, vomiting, hematemesis, or black stools may occur. This is often caused by tumor infiltration or compression of the stomach and duodenum.

3. Jaundice is the main symptom of pancreatic cancer, especially pancreatic head cancer, which is close to the common bile duct, causing it to infiltrate or be compressed, resulting in obstructive jaundice. It usually worsens progressively, with red tea-colored urine, clay-colored stools, and itchy skin. The liver and gallbladder swell due to bile stasis, the gallbladder can often be touched, and there is a tendency to bleed and abnormal liver function.

4. Most other patients have low fever, fatigue, and weight loss. The patient cannot sleep at night due to abdominal pain, lacks sleep, and is tired. In the late stage, a hard and fixed mass can be felt in the upper abdomen. After ascites is formed, the abdomen swells. When combined with biliary infection, high fever may occur and finally cachexia and metastatic cancer symptoms such as liver, lung and bone may appear.

5. Signs Patients are emaciated, malnourished, jaundiced, and in very poor general condition. 50% of patients can palpate an enlarged liver and gallbladder, with blunt and hard edges. The upper abdominal mass is hard, nodular, with unclear edges, tenderness, and muscle tension; in cases with jaundice, palpation of an enlarged gallbladder is an important sign of pancreatic head cancer.