When it comes to pancreatic cancer, many people get nervous because the survival rate for patients is often low. In fact, many patients with pancreatic cancer start experiencing changes 2 to 3 years before they are diagnosed – as long as you pay attention to 2 signs, you may be able to spot them.
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all cancers
Pancreatic cancer is sometimes called the “silent” disease because in its early stages symptoms are rarely noticed, and when they do occur, they are vague and easy to ignore. It is generally late when discovered.
According to data from the American Cancer Society, the relative 5-year survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients is only 11%, which ranks last among the 22 types of cancer. According to a clinical observation of 625 patients, the overall median survival time for pancreatic cancer is only 9.3 months.
Pancreatic cancer is expected to account for only 3% of all cancers in the United States in 2022, but 7% of deaths.
1 in 61 people may develop pancreatic cancer in their lifetime.
Why is pancreatic cancer fatal?
The pancreas is located in the upper abdomen of the body, near the back of the stomach, and is an important gland in the digestive system. It is responsible for secreting digestive juices that flow into the intestines to digest and break down food.
The pancreas also secretes and releases hormones, including insulin, into the blood, which keep blood sugar in a more stable state.
There are four reasons for the high mortality rate of pancreatic cancer.
1. The pancreas is located deep in the abdomen in the retroperitoneum, so it is not easy to find the lesions.Many people feel abnormal because pancreatic cancer has spread and affected other areas.
2. Pancreatic cancer has characteristics of early metastasis.
Pancreatic cancer can spread to nearby lymph nodes and the peritoneum, and cancer cells can also travel through the bloodstream to other parts of the body. When pancreatic cancer is first diagnosed, 52 percent of people have cancer that has spread.
Although the relative 5-year survival rate of patients with pancreatic cancer that has not spread can reach 44%, these patients account for only 12% of all patients; the relative 5-year survival rate of patients with pancreatic cancer spread is only 3%. . Even patients who undergo surgery are very likely to develop metastases in the years following surgery.
3. Cancer of the pancreas greatly weakens the patient’s bodythus limiting their ability to withstand treatment.
4. Pancreatic cancer is resistant to many therapies.
If pancreatic cancer is detected early, the chance of survival is higher. An earlier study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology suggested that even a diagnosis six months earlier can improve the chances of pancreatic cancer patients having surgery to remove the cancerous growth.
Pay attention to 2 signs to detect pancreatic cancer 3 years in advance
Analyzing large UK medical data, researchers at the University of Oxford identified 23 symptoms associated with the most common type of pancreatic cancer: yellowing of the skin, stomach or intestinal bleeding, difficulty swallowing, diarrhoea, changes in bowel habits, vomiting, indigestion, abdominal mass, abdominal pain, weight loss, constipation, fatty stools, abdominal distension, nausea, flatulence, heartburn, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, itching, pain back, thirst, and dark urine. Although most symptoms are not specific to pancreatic cancer and may be caused by other benign conditions, patients with pancreatic cancer are more likely than patients with other diseases to experience some of the symptoms unspecified this in the year before diagnosis.
Not long ago, researchers at the University of Surrey and the University of Oxford collaborated to identify two pancreatic diseases associated with cancer by analyzing data from 8,777 pancreatic cancer patients and comparing them to nearly 35,000 control groups. Changes in important body markers – weight loss and increased blood sugar.
The results of the study showed that before the diagnosis of pancreatic cancertwo toThree years, these two symptoms can appear.
1. Lose weight
In particular, two years before the patient was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, there may have been a noticeable change in the body, that is, sudden weight loss.
At the time of diagnosis, the average body mass index (BMI, which is the square of weight divided by height) of pancreatic cancer patients is only 25.7. The average BMI of the average person is 28.4, a difference of 3 units.
Further calculations found that if a person loses so much weight that the difference between their body mass index and the average person reaches 5 units, then their risk of developing pancreatic cancer will increase by 60%.
Therefore, if you lose weight quickly and lose weight, you should be alert, and this could be a symptom of pancreatic cancer.
2. high blood sugar
If blood sugar rises, you should not only pay attention to see if you have diabetes, but also be careful if it is pancreatic cancer.
Compared to ordinary people, patients with pancreatic cancer have a higher level of glycated hemoglobin, that is, blood sugar, with an average of 55mmol/mol. The average blood sugar in the control group was only 48.5mmol/mol. The difference between the two is 6.5 units.
It is worth noting that the early warning signal of high blood sugar levels can be detected during the first three years of the patient’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
If a person’s blood sugar rises by 10mmol/mol, their risk of pancreatic cancer increases by 40%.
The study also found that a person without diabetes who had high blood sugar was more likely to have a higher risk of pancreatic cancer than a person with diabetes. People with diabetes who lose weight have a higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
Why Do Abnormal Weight and Blood Sugar Predict Pancreatic Cancer?
The exact cause of pancreatic cancer is unknown, but it is believed that a number of risk factors are associated with the development of pancreatic cancer.
Among them, some factors such as family history and genetic genes are considered non-intervention risk factors for pancreatic cancer. There is also a more special non-modifiable risk factor: people with blood type O have the lowest risk of pancreatic cancer.
A review of pancreatic cancer published in The Lancet in 2020 suggested that among the various carcinogenic factors of pancreatic cancer, risk factors that can be controlled and intervened include: obesity, type 2 diabetes and tobacco use. Among them, smoking almost increases the risk of all types of cancer, which is already a consensus. (Editor’s Pick:Is 50% of cancer really preventable?Stay away from these carcinogens and stay healthy)
A large cohort study of more than 560,000 Americans showed that people who were overweight or obese were 15% to 53% more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than those who were of normal weight.
Analyzing surgically obtained human pancreatic tissue, French researchers have shown that fatty infiltration leads to the development of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia, a precursor to pancreatic cancer.
Some studies have suggested that there is a two-way causal relationship between diabetes and pancreatic cancer. Compared to patients without diabetes, those who were recently diagnosed with diabetes had almost seven times the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
A multi-ethnic cohort study also showed that patients with pancreatic cancer often have clinical signs of diabetes; and long-term diabetes will increase a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
Other researchers have suggested that obesity-induced symptoms of hyperglycemia and insulin resistance may lead to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer because high levels of insulin in the blood may promote the proliferation of pancreatic and ductal acinar cells. In addition, inflammation caused by insulin resistance can also increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.
A study published in the journal “Cell Metabolism” in 2019 proposed that a series of metabolic changes caused by high blood sugar will mean that pancreatic cells lack a specific raw material for DNA synthesis and repair, which will lead to mutations in the KRAS gene in pancreas. cells, thereby causing pancreatic cancer; And 90% of pancreatic cancers have this gene mutation.
To prevent pancreatic cancer, pay attention to the following points
If you want to prevent pancreatic cancer, you should start by changing the controllable risk factors for pancreatic cancer.
One of the most important points is to eat more plant-based foods.
A diet rich in fruit, vegetables and other plant foods reduces the risk of pancreatic cancer, while a diet rich in meat and animal products increases the risk.
In particular, intake of red meat and high temperature processed meat products can cause pancreatic cancer. This is because such foods can contain advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which can accumulate in body tissues and accelerate oxidative stress and inflammation, which can lead to disease and cancer.
Many nutrients in fruits and vegetables, especially water-soluble vitamins and active substances, have antioxidant and anticancer properties; while a high dietary fiber intake has also been linked to a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer. Especially cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage contain isothiocyanates, which can help fight cancer.
People who ate more cruciferous vegetables had a 22 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate less cruciferous vegetables.
Additionally, in a randomized controlled trial of dietary modification in nearly 50,000 middle-aged and older American women, a low-fat dietary intervention was shown to reduce the incidence of pancreatic cancer in overweight women by 29%.
Such a diet can also help reduce obesity. Obesity is not the only cancer that can cause pancreatic cancer. Keeping your weight within the normal range can reduce your risk of up to 13 types of cancer.
In addition, we must stop bad habits such as smoking and drinking.
A controlled study of more than 530,000 European people confirmed that current smokers have a 72% higher risk of pancreatic cancer compared to people who do not smoke at all, and by avoiding exposure to tobacco, pancreatic cancer can be reduced by around 16 %.
A meta-analysis found that heavy drinkers had a 15 percent increased risk of pancreatic cancer, and that the effect was most pronounced among male heavy drinkers and heavy alcohol drinkers.
In addition, excessive alcohol consumption is one of the main causes of chronic pancreatitis, which is also thought to possibly trigger pancreatic cancer.
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