November is pancreatic cancer awareness month. While pancreatic cancer has a low incidence rate, it has a very high mortality rate, making it the 3rd highest cause of cancer death. Estimates for 2026 are 7500 persons in Canada will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 6500 will die from it. The overall 5 year survival rate is 13%. What makes pancreatic cancer so dangerous is the difficulty in getting an early diagnosis. Early pancreatic cancer rarely has symptoms and by the time symptoms are felt the cancer has become quite advanced. Pancreatic cancer grows slowly at first, and can take up to 12 years before symptoms are felt. After that it grows very quickly and can spread within a very short period of time.
The pancreas is a gland that is about 6 inches long and lies behind the stomach. It produces insulin and other hormones and also aids digestion. Risk factors for cancer are smoking, obesity, diabetes, chronic pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), and genetic conditions like having the BRCA gene, Lynch syndrome, and several other genetic mutations. https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-types/pancreatic/risks.
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include abdominal or back pain, unexplained weight loss, difficulty digesting food, jaundice, dark urine, light coloured fatty stools that float, itching over the whole body, loss of appetite, increased thirst and urination.
There are no standard screening tests for pancreatic cancer. It is diagnosed by examining symptoms you may have with blood chemistry tests, blood tumour markers, CT scan, ultrasound, MRI, PET scan, and biopsy. Treatment type depends on what stage the cancer is at and can include surgery to remove the tumour if possible, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. Exact treatment will depend on stage and grade of the cancer.
Current areas of research into pancreatic cancer include changing the tumour micro environment. TME is the area around the tumour - the immune cells, nerves, fibrous tissue and blood vessels. The TME around pancreatic cancer is resistant to treatment and research is working on getting past that. Other areas of research are electric field therapy which sends electrical currents into the pancreas to disrupt the spread of cancer cells, as well as immunotherapy to use a patients own immune system to fight cancer, and targeting gene mutations.
No matter what type of cancer you may have, Cancer Crossing is here to help you with extra costs that are not covered by Manitoba Health. We are a CRA registered charity and provide tax receipts for your donation. Cancer Crossing gratefully receives your donations at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/cancer-crossing-inc/ Help us help others in need.
