How many types of pancreatic tumors are there? Are pancreatic tumors serious?

Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumor of the digestive tract. Since the early symptoms are not very obvious, many people are already in the late stage when they discover it. So what are the methods for treating pancreatic tumors?

How to detect pancreatic tumors

Abdominal B-ultrasound and abdominal CT are the most commonly used imaging examination methods for detecting pancreatic tumors. However, further examinations also include pancreatic MRI or PET-CT, as well as evaluation of the bile duct condition and whether surgery can be performed. These also require related examinations such as MRCP and ERCP. In addition, tumor markers have a certain reference value for the identification of benign and malignant pancreatic tumors. The most commonly used tumor markers are CEA and CA19-9, especially CA19-9 for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The sensitivity and specificity are still relatively high. For patients with pancreatic cancer, CA19-9 will generally have a more obvious increase. However, the diagnosis of pancreatic tumors still requires a pathological diagnosis, which is the gold standard for distinguishing benign and malignant pancreatic tumors.

Pancreatic tumors are classified into several types

Pancreatic tumors include benign pancreatic tumors and malignant pancreatic tumors. Malignant pancreatic tumors are what we usually call pancreatic cancer, which is divided into pancreatic head cancer, pancreatic body cancer and whole pancreatic cancer according to the location of the tumor. Benign pancreatic tumors include islet cell tumors, which can cause hypoglycemia due to excessive secretion of insulin. They also include adenomas, pancreatic cysts, pancreatic lipomas, fibromas, etc., but benign pancreatic tumors are relatively rare in clinical practice.

Are pancreatic tumors serious?

Pancreatic tumors are divided into benign and malignant tumors. Benign pancreatic tumors include islet cell tumors and pancreatic cystadenomas, etc. These benign tumors only require surgical treatment when they show compression symptoms, compress the surrounding organs, cause jaundice, or abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, and other clinical manifestations. However, the prognosis of benign pancreatic tumors is very good, so there is no need to worry too much. Malignant tumors of the pancreas, which we call pancreatic cancer, are definitely a more serious disease, and clinically, there are very few patients who can undergo radical surgery for early pancreatic cancer. Most pancreatic cancer patients are in the late stage when they are discovered, so the prognosis for this type of patients is relatively poor, and the progression of pancreatic cancer is also very fast.

What to do if pancreatic tumor hurts

Abdominal pain is the most common symptom of pancreatic cancer patients. Symptomatic treatment can be given with painkillers, and specific medication should be used under the guidance of a doctor. Of course, to cure the root cause, pancreatic cancer must be controlled through early surgery. If surgery is not possible or the patient is in the late stage of pancreatic cancer, chemotherapy or some targeted therapy, as well as local palliative radiotherapy and other treatment methods can be used to treat pancreatic cancer. Only when the tumor is controlled can its pain be relieved.