Pancreas Cancer

Pancreas cancer symptoms

When the tumor begins to develop, there are no noticeable symptoms. On the advanced stages of pancreas cancer the following symptoms appear:

• temporary, non-intensive pain in the upper abdominal region,
• then the pain becomes constant, especially while lying on the back or bending forward,
• drastic loss of appetite and weight,
• skin itching,
• yellow skin,
• light-colored fecal masses and dark urine,
• severe weakness,
• heartburn after the food intake,
• sickness, vomiting, abdomen heaviness,
• alteration of liquid stool and constipation.

Diagnostics of pancreas cancer in Germany

In German clinics much attention is paid to all available diagnostic methods, including:

• defining cancer cells in the blood via oncomarkers,
• detecting metastases in nearby organs via ultrasonic scan,
• endoscopic and ultrasonic scan of digestive organs,
• insuring the diagnostic results using contrast agents,
• detecting metastases by tomography scanning,
• laboratory analyses of tumor tissues,
• defining cancer metastases in nearby organs by laparoscopy.

It is not easy to recognize the disease, especially if the patient doesn’t undergo regular medical check-up. Pancreas cancer develops in a few stages:

• At first cancerous cells are located only inside the pancreatic gland.
• Then the cancer tumor is spread on nearby organs.
• Cancer cells get into lymph nodes.
• The fourth stage can develop in two ways:
1. The tumor ingrows into big blood vessels;
2. The tumor ingrows into liver and lungs.

The malignant tumor appears on the mucous membrane inside the head of pancreas. There are the following types of pancreas cancer:

• adenocarcinoma (the most popular),
• neuroendocrine tumor,
• lymphoma,
• sarcoma.

Doctors in German clinics apply individual approach in pancreas cancer treatment. This implies thorough analysis of the patient’s condition and studying the specific peculiarities of his organs.

Surgical pancreas cancer treatment – the effective way to fight the disease

Oncologists recommend surgery for pancreas cancer treatment. A surgeon dissects the head of pancreas together with the surrounding tissues. This is a complex surgery, as it seriously influences on the digestive system and requires much time.

During such surgery a specialist:

• analyses the pancreas head and surrounding organs with the aim of special equipment,
• monitors the affected organ on the magnifying screen,
• makes decisions about the further surgery steps.

If the doctor decides that a tumor is operable, he:

• makes an incision in abdominal cavity,
• dissects the part of an organ that contains tumor tissue,
• removes the surrounding tissues,
• performs rearrangement of digestive organs.

The dissected pancreas head is additionally checked for cancerous cells that caused the malignant tumor development.

When the tumor blocks biliary tracts, the surgeon unloads them by special metallic tents. If surgical pancreas cancer treatment method doesn’t provide full removal of cancerous cells, the doctors combine it with other types of therapy.

Chemotherapy for the pancreas cancer treatment in Germany

Then German surgeons apply chemotherapeutic treatment to clean the blood from cancerous cells. In the most complicated cases this procedure is performed also before the surgery. Chemotherapy usually has positive effect on the treatment results.

Beam therapy or the pancreas cancer treatment in Germany

In cases when cancer is localized in pancreatic gland, German specialists recommend beam therapy. Such treatment often gives excellent results.
German clinics help lots of patients from all over the world to return to a normal life after successful pancreas cancer treatment.