Can pancreatic tumors be cured?

Pancreatic tumor is a tumor of the digestive system, and digestive tract tumors are difficult to treat. Its incidence and mortality rates have shown a clear upward trend in recent years. The diagnosis rate of pancreatic tumors is very low in the early stages, and the mortality rate of surgery is relatively high. The cure rate is very low. The incidence of pancreatic tumors is higher in men than in women, but the incidence rate in women after menopause is almost the same as that in men.

symptom

Pancreatic cancer has no specific early symptoms. The most common symptoms are upper abdominal distension and pain. If a middle-aged person over 40 years old complains of upper abdominal symptoms, in addition to liver and gallbladder and gastrointestinal diseases, the possibility of pancreatic cancer should be considered.

1. Pain Pain is the main symptom of pancreatic cancer, and it occurs regardless of whether the tumor is located in the head or tail of the pancreas. 60% to 80% of patients present with upper abdominal pain, and 85% of these patients with pain are either unable to undergo surgical resection or are in the advanced stage. The pain is usually unrelated to diet and is persistent, ranging in severity from discomfort due to fullness, dull pain to severe pain. There is radiating pain, with pancreatic head cancer mostly radiating to the right side, while body and tail cancer mostly radiate to the left side. Low back pain indicates a more advanced stage and a poor prognosis.

2. Jaundice In the past, painless jaundice was often used as the first or inevitable symptom of pancreatic cancer, and the appearance of jaundice was used as an important basis for diagnosing pancreatic cancer. Therefore, the opportunity for early diagnosis and surgery was often lost. However, painless jaundice is still the most common symptom of pancreatic cancer. About 50% of patients with this symptom have the opportunity to undergo radical surgery. The early or late onset of jaundice is closely related to the location of the tumor, and jaundice often occurs in pancreatic head cancer. Jaundice may fluctuate, presenting as complete or incomplete obstructive jaundice. Cancer in the tail or far away from the bile and pancreatic ducts may also cause jaundice due to compression of the extrahepatic bile duct by lymph node metastasis or due to adhesions or tortuosity near the bile duct.

3. The most common digestive tract symptom is loss of appetite, followed by nausea and vomiting. There may be diarrhea, constipation or even black stools. The diarrhea is often steatorrhea.

4. Weight loss and fatigue. Pancreatic cancer is different from other cancers in that it often causes weight loss and fatigue in the early stages. This symptom has nothing to do with the location of the cancer.

5. Other symptoms may include high fever or even chills, which are similar to those of cholangitis, so it is easy to be confused with cholelithiasis and cholangitis. Of course, when there is biliary obstruction and infection, chills and high fever may also occur. Feeling a lump in the abdomen indicates that the cancer has reached an advanced stage, but sometimes the lump is an enlarged liver or gallbladder, or pancreatic cancer is complicated by a pancreatic cyst.

Diet and health care

Avoid greasy food and high animal fat food, such as fatty meat, lamb, meat floss, shellfish, peanuts, sesame, puff pastry, etc.

Avoid overeating and overeating, and control the intake of protein and sugar appropriately.

Avoid smoking, drinking, and sour, numbing, spicy and irritating foods, such as onions, garlic, ginger, peppers, and chili peppers.

Avoid moldy, fried, smoked, and pickled foods, such as salted fish, pickled vegetables, walnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, fried foods, puff pastries, cream, ice cream, etc.

Avoid hard, sticky and indigestible foods, leeks, celery and other rough fiber foods, foods that irritate the intestines such as coarse grains, corn, glutinous rice, etc.

complication

Tumor-induced splenic vein obstruction can cause splenomegaly and localized portal hypertension, leading to gastric bleeding or esophageal varices.