Pancreatic Cancer
The pancreas
The pancreas is a gland located deep in the abdomen between the stomach and
the spine (backbone). The liver, intestine, and other organs surround the
pancreas.
The pancreas is about 6 inches long and is shaped like a flat pear. The
widest part of the pancreas is the head, the middle section is the body, and the
thinnest part is the tail.
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| This picture shows the pancreas and nearby organs. |
The pancreas makes insulin and other hormones. These hormones enter the
bloodstream and travel throughout the body. They help the body use or store the
energy that comes from food. For example, insulin helps control the amount of
sugar in the blood.
The pancreas also makes pancreatic juices. These juices contain enzymes that
help digest food. The pancreas releases the juices into a system of ducts
leading to the common bile duct. The common bile duct empties into the duodenum,
the first section of the small intestine.
Understanding pancreatic cancer
Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All cancers begin in cells, the
body's basic unit of life. Cells make up tissues, and tissues make up the organs
of the body.
Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them.
When cells grow old and die, new cells take their place.
Sometimes this orderly process breaks down. New cells form when the body does
not need them, or old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can
form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.
Tumors can be benign or malignant:
- Benign tumors are not cancer. Usually, doctors can remove them. In most
cases, benign tumors do not come back after they are removed. Cells from benign
tumors do not spread to tissues around them or to other parts of the body. Most
important, benign tumors are rarely a threat to life.
- Malignant tumors are cancer. They are generally more serious and may be life
threatening. Cancer cells can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Also,
cancer cells can break away from a malignant tumor and enter the bloodstream or
lymphatic system. That is how cancer cells spread from the original cancer
(primary tumor) to form new tumors in other organs. The spread of cancer is
called metastasis.
Most pancreatic cancers begin in the ducts that carry pancreatic juices.
Cancer of the pancreas may be called pancreatic cancer or carcinoma of the
pancreas.
A rare type of pancreatic cancer begins in the cells that make insulin and
other hormones. Cancer that begins in these cells is called islet cell cancer.
This booklet does not deal with this rare disease. The Cancer Information
Service (1-800-4-CANCER) can provide information about islet cell cancer.
When cancer of the pancreas spreads (metastasizes) outside the pancreas,
cancer cells are often found in nearby lymph nodes. If the cancer has reached
these nodes, it means that cancer cells may have spread to other lymph nodes or
other tissues, such as the liver or lungs. Sometimes cancer of the pancreas
spreads to the peritoneum, the tissue that lines the abdomen.
When cancer spreads from its original place to another part of the body, the
new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the primary
tumor. For example, if cancer of the pancreas spreads to the liver, the cancer
cells in the liver are pancreatic cancer cells. The disease is metastatic
pancreatic cancer, not liver cancer. It is treated as pancreatic cancer, not
liver cancer.
Next: What are the risk factors for pancreatic cancer? »
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