Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: This is pancreatic cancer caused by the dysfunction of endocrine cells grouped into islets, called islets of Langerhans. These tumors progress more slowly than exocrine tumors.
Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer
One of the major problems in the treatment of pancreatic cancer is that it is often asymptomatic in the early stages, meaning the disease is often discovered at a very advanced stage. Furthermore, the symptoms of pancreatic cancer are not very characteristic and can be confused with those of other, more benign conditions, delaying diagnosis. Symptoms include:
loss of appetite and weight loss;
jaundice: if the tumor is located in the head of the pancreas, it blocks the flow of bile from the liver to the intestine because it compresses the common bile duct. The person experiences yellowing of the eyes and skin, light-colored stools, dark urine, and sometimes itching all over the body;
severe abdominal pain: particularly if the tumor is located in the tail of the pancreas. This pain spreads to the back and under the ribs on the left side.
Causes of Pancreatic Cancer
The causes of pancreatic cancer have not yet been defined. However, several risk factors have been identified:
Smoking: According to the Cancer Research Foundation (ARC), smoking triples the risk of developing pancreatic cancer and is involved in 30% of pancreatic cancers observed worldwide;
