What are the early symptoms of pancreatic cancer?

What are the symptoms of pancreatic cancer? When it comes to pancreatic cancer, many patients find it terrifying, so it is important for patients to understand the symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Let's take a look at the symptoms of pancreatic cancer .

Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include:

1. Psychiatric symptoms: Some pancreatic cancer patients may experience anxiety, irritability, depression, personality changes, and other psychiatric symptoms. The mechanism of occurrence is still unclear, but it may be because pancreatic cancer patients often have symptoms such as intractable abdominal pain, insomnia, and inability to eat, which can easily affect their spirit and emotions.

2. Abdominal pain: Pain is the most obvious symptom of pancreatic cancer, and it occurs regardless of whether the tumor is located in the head or tail of the pancreas. Less common is paroxysmal severe upper abdominal pain that progressively worsens and can even become unbearable. This is more common in patients with early pancreatic head cancer accompanied by pancreaticobiliary duct obstruction. The abdominal pain of typical pancreatic cancer often worsens when lying on your back, especially at night, forcing the patient to sit up or bend forward or bend their knees in order to relieve the pain. Sometimes the patient tosses and turns at night, which may be due to compression of the abdominal plexus by cancer infiltration. In addition to pain in the middle abdomen or left upper abdomen or right upper abdomen, a small number of cases complain of pain in the left or right lower abdomen, around the umbilicus or the entire abdomen, and even testicular pain, which can be easily confused with other diseases. When the tumor involves the visceral capsule, peritoneum, or retroperitoneal tissue, tenderness may be present in the corresponding area.

3. Gastrointestinal symptoms: The most common is loss of appetite, followed by nausea and vomiting. There may be diarrhea or constipation or even black stools. Diarrhea is often steatorrhea. A small number of patients experience obstructive vomiting because the tumor invades or compresses the duodenum and stomach. Due to frequent insufficient food intake, about 10% of patients have severe constipation. Pancreatic cancer can also cause upper gastrointestinal bleeding, which manifests as vomiting blood, black stools, or only positive fecal occult blood test, with an incidence of about 10%.

4. Abdominal mass: The pancreas is deep in the back abdomen and difficult to feel. The abdominal mass is the result of the development of the cancer itself and is located where the lesion is. If a mass has been felt, it is usually in the advanced or late stage. When the cancer compresses the abdominal aorta or splenic artery, a blowing vascular murmur can be heard around the navel or in the left upper abdomen. Sometimes the abdominal mass is an enlarged liver and gallbladder, and there are also pancreatic cysts complicated by pancreatic cancer.

5. Jaundice: Jaundice is an important symptom of pancreatic cancer, especially pancreatic head cancer. Jaundice is obstructive, accompanied by dark yellow urine and clay-like stools, and is caused by the invasion or compression of the lower end of the common bile duct. Although it is currently believed that the occurrence of itching in obstructive jaundice may be related to the accumulation of bile acid in the skin, a small number of patients without jaundice or with mild jaundice may also have symptoms of skin itching.

6. Weight loss and fatigue: Pancreatic cancer is different from other cancers in that it often causes weight loss and fatigue in the early stages.

7. Thrombophlebitis: Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer may experience migratory thrombophlebitis or arterial thrombosis. Deep vein thrombosis in the lower limbs may cause edema in the affected lower limbs.

8. Symptomatic diabetes: In a small number of patients, the initial manifestations of the disease are symptoms of diabetes, that is, they suffer from diabetes before the main symptoms of pancreatic cancer such as abdominal pain and jaundice appear, so that the accompanying emaciation and weight loss are mistakenly regarded as manifestations of diabetes, and pancreatic cancer is not considered. It may also be manifested as a recent worsening of the condition of patients with long-term diabetes, or the original treatment measures that could control the disease for a long time become ineffective, indicating that pancreatic cancer may have occurred on the basis of the original diabetes.

The above are the symptoms of pancreatic cancer. I hope it helps you. Once you find symptoms similar to the above pancreatic cancer, please go to a regular hospital for diagnosis and treatment in time to avoid worsening of the disease.

For more information, please visit the pancreatic cancer disease special topic at http://www..com.cn/zhongliu/yxa/ or consult an expert for free. The expert will give a detailed answer based on the patient's specific situation.