Understanding Pancreatic Cancer - the Basics

What Is Pancreatic Cancer?

The pancreas is an organ which is located behind your stomach, next to the top of the small intestine. It is about six inches long but is less than 2 inches wide and functions as two separate organs. It has two big manufacturing jobs in the body:

• It makes digestive juices that help the intestines break down food.
• It produces hormones -- including insulin -- that regulate the body's use of sugars and starches.

The pancreas is divided into two sections: the "head" and the "tail."

The organ has special cells called endocrine cells that make hormones and are clustered together in groups called islets that are found mostly in the tail and body sections of the gland. The pancreas also has exocrine cells, which are another type of specialized cell, which outnumber endocrine cells 99 to 1. They are spread throughout the gland and perform the digestive functions.

In pancreatic cancer, the organ's cells grow abnormally. At least 90% of pancreatic cancers are exocrine cell cancers called adenocarcinomas, usually originating in the head of the gland. Endocrine cell cancers -- or islet cell carcinomas -- occur in the tail of the pancreas and are slower growing, generally more treatable and are rare.

Like many other cancers, pancreatic cancer usually strikes after age 50. It is more commonly diagnosed in men than in women, and most cases are incurable. The incidence of pancreatic cancer has risen with an increase in the average life span, causing some 29,000 new cases and about the same number of deaths annually in the U.S., making it one of the leading cancer killers.

What Causes It?

Aside from advanced age, smoking is the main risk factor for pancreatic cancer; a smoker is three to four times more likely than a nonsmoker to acquire the disease. People frequently exposed to certain petroleum products may also be at increased risk. Excessive dietary fat and protein as well as low fiber intake may promote the disease. Diabetes also is also linked to pancreatic cancer: 10% to 20% of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer also have diabetes.

Other hereditary diseases associated with pancreatic cancer include inflammatory pancreatic problems; a condition called Gardner's syndrome, where growths develop inside and outside the colon; a skin and nerve disease called neurofibromatosis; and multiple endocrine neoplasia, a condition that promotes growth of noncancerous islet cell tumors.