Further information, publications.
Carcinoma of Pancreas
Information about the Development, Diagnosis, Treatment
Dear Patients,
In the following pages we would like to inform you about different therapy methods for carcinoma of pancreas offered at our institution.
Additional information for our Patients and Referring:
What is carcinoma of pancreas and how does it occur?
The carcinoma of pancreas is malignant tumor of pancreas where tumor cells are found in its tissues. The pancreas is about 15 cm long, located behind the stomach in a pouch which is partly formed by the small intestine. The pancreas is divided into three parts, the broad head, the body in the middle and the small tail. The most common site of pancreatic carcinoma is the head.
The pancreas has two important functions: it produces digestive enzymes and hormones (for e.g. insulin), which regulates the nutrition substances within our body. The part of the pancreas which produces digestive enzymes is called exocrine pancreas where about 95% of the pancreatic carcinoma arises. The hormone producing part of the pancreas is called endocrine pancreas where only 5% of pancreatic tumor arises.
Diagnosis
When there is a suspicion of carcinoma of pancreas the patient undergoes certain important examinations including radiological examinations with the help of which one can certainly rule out or confirm the presence of tumor and in case of tumor presence help know its location and extension.
The important diagnostic steps for confirmation of carcinoma of pancreas are:
- Clinical/physical examination
- Biochemistry (blood) examinations (tumor markers)
- Ultrasound examination (sonography of abdomen)
- Computertomography (CT)
- Magnet Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Should a pancreatic carcinoma be confirmed, further examinations could be necessary for evaluation of tumor extension:
Chest X-ray
Endoscopy of stomach and duodenum
Endoscopic visualisation of pancreatic duct and bile ducts with x-ray (ERCP)
Endoscopic ultrasonography (endosonography)
Tissue biopsy
Therapies for Pancreatic Cancer
After diagnosis of carcinoma of pancreas and evaluation of tumor extension, the treating physician discusses the best available treatment modalities with the patient depending on the stage of tumor.
- Operative removal of the tumor
- Systemic chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Local treatment methods
- or combination of above mentioned therapies
The type of therapy depends specially on the type (endocrine or exocrine) and stage of the carcinoma, also the age and general condition of the patient is taken in consideration.
The most important and effective method of treatment of pancreatic carcinoma is operation. The aim of operation is to remove the tumor completely and treat the disease. But operative removal is only done when the tumor is located within the pancreas. Operative therapy is of little sense if the tumor has already extended to the nearby tissues or infiltrated the neighbouring organs. In such cases
the therapy choices are usually radiation therapy and/or Chemo-embolisation, -perfusion. Both these methods cannot bring about a complete cure of carcinoma but can only slow or stop its growth. Also it is possible to reduce the tumor associated symptoms (nausea, loss of appetite, pain) with these methods.
The life expectancy of a patient with carcinoma of pancreas depends on:
- Stage of the tumor
- Number of tumor
- Size of metastasis
- Type of therapy