Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer

Introduction

Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm that arises from the tissues present in the pancreas of the human body. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth most common cause of deaths which occur due to cancer. The pancreas in the human body produces enzymes that help in digestion and hormones, which further assists to regulate the metabolism of sugars. Pancreatic cancer is not diagnosed in early stages and spread rapidly in the human body. The symptoms of pancreatic may not appear early which is why it becomes difficult to cure. The most common type of pancreatic cancer arises from the exorcine gland which is also called adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

Discussion

Anatomy of the pancreas

The pancreas is the elongated organ which is situated at the back of the abdomen. The right side of the organ, which is called the head, is the widest part of the organ. The left side is slightly upward and ends with a tail. The pancreas consists of two glands. The first gland is called exorcine, which is responsible to produce digestive enzymes. The other gland is called endocrine that distributes hormones in the blood (Neoptolemos, 2010)..

Causes of pancreatic cancer

In United States around 40,000 people get affected with pancreatic cancer yearly. Some of the most common risk factors that develop pancreatic cancer are as follows:

Smoking

Chaudhray (2011) Smoking increases the risk of pancreatic cancer.Scientist in United States concluded that one in five people get affected with pancreatic cancer due to smoking. The risk of pancreatic cancer decreases in people who quit smoking.

Age

The risk of pancreatic cancer increases in a human with age. People who are older than 60 get affected by this disease more often as compared to younger people. Around 80% cases develop pancreatic cancer between the ages 60 to 80.

Family history

It is estimated that around 5-10% of pancreatic patients ...