Pancreas Cancer Prognosis

Question: what is the prognosis of cancer pancreas after chemo and radiotherapy? the patient is74 y. coplicated by diabetes and tumour m. ca19.9 after tretment lowered from 35000 to 1200

Answer: Generally speaking not good unfortunately. Chemotherapy response may be better in patients who are BRCA2 gene carriers. Some centers have protocols that allow neo-adjuvant chemo- (& radiation-) therapy before down-staging locally unresectable cancers in order to later allow surgical resection. The use of radiation in locally unresctable cancers is also the subject of some controversy. Best people to discuss these questions with are the medical and radiation oncologists involved.

Question: what is long term prognosis of pancreas cancer?

Answer: If it was found accidentally and early the prognosis can be pretty good, but this very rarely happens. The overall 5 year survival rate is about 4%.

Question: What is the prognosis for a person diagnosed with pancreatic cancer? I have a friend with whom I cannot communicate who has recently been diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas and I am wondering how long a minimum to maximum period of time he can survive this disease.

Answer: Generally it is very poor. The only patients who survive are those whose disease was found incidentally. Less than 20% survive the first year, about 3% at 5 years. At stage 4 the median survival is 2-6 months.

Question: prognosis for pancreatic cancer? 2 days ago, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She's already had the PET scan but they haven't gotten the test results back yet. All I know is the tumor in her pancreas is 2cm, which I think is good. I've looked up the prognosis for pancreatic cancer on several websites, including wikipedia, but they don't list it for all the stages. They just say that it's about 5% for those caught too late. I don't know if we caught hers in time, but I'd like to at least know what the prognosis would be if we did.

Answer: Only your mother's doctor can answer this question, it is different for every person. I send you and her my prayers.

Question: Pancreatic cancer? My mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late may. The cancer was inoperable so they started her on chemo and trial drugs. Well the cancer has been seeming to diminish as well as her tumor marker until this past month.When her CT scan came back the cancer on her pancreas was completely gone but her tumor marker was around 10,000. My question is what does her CT scan and tumor marker mean and what prognosis would you give her.Thanks.

Answer: CT scan stands for computer tomography. It is basically a very fancy x-ray that allows doctors to see details of your organs. So if the CT scan shows that the pancreas is tumor free, it means that the chemotherpy is working to shrink the tumor size. That is good news. I'm not sure what the tumor marker is. Doctors look at different chemicals in the blood that are produced by or in response to cancer. Without knowing which tumor marker they were looking at, I can't tell you what the number means. Pacreatic cancer is difficult to treat. I am glad your mom is responding to the chemo. If you have questions, ask your mom if you can talk to her doctor. He or she won't be able to tell you everything you want to know, but he may be able to explain what's going on with you mom a little better.

Question: Stomach Cancer? My brother who was home on holidays from Africa where he Lectures was feeling nausia and went to Doctor to discover he had cancer of the stomach and it had spread to the spleen,liver,glands,pancreas it is not possible to operate as it has gone too far and he also is a diabetic. They are going to start him on chemo injections and tablets in late sept 2007. His prognosis is 2 months to 5 Yrs. He is worried about undergoing the chemo as it has severe side effects but he says he will only have about 2 Months if he does not. My question is what chance does he have to prolong his life with the chemo if any. I would hate to thing he went through the chemo if it was not going to help. He is 61 and Our father died of the same thing at 62 on 6th Sept 1980 I also wish to know if any one ever heard of the alternative medicine called Zeolite which can be seen at the following web address http://www.cancerfightingstrategies.com/…

Answer: I can only reiterate the pleas of some of the answers begging you NOT to even think about alternative therapies. You will waste time - which clearly is limited - and money. The decision whether to accept treatment or not, isn't easy. Only your brother can decide. However, bear in mind that he can call a halt at any time if it becomes to much to bear. It may be that he opts for quality over quantity. His specialists will advise and there is so much support out there. Hopefully your brother will have been put in touch with a Macmillan Nurse, who will help him with the syptoms of the treatment and the disease. You may find it helpful to contact Cancerbackup - phone 0808 800 1234, or email info@cancerbackup.org.uk or Marie Curie Cancer Care, phone 0800 716 146, email info@mariecurie.org.uk Both of these organizations have a wealth of knowledge and information I do wish you and your family strength to face what lies ahead. Just one other thought - have you, or any other family members been screened for digestive tract cancer? You mention that your father died from the same disease. Maybe you should consider it. Early diagnosis offers the best chance of sucessful treatment. Good luck.

Question: I'm 5 months pregnant and may have pancreatic cancer or pancreatitis. Do you think?? I'm 5 months pregnant and my doctor has found a growth on my pancreas, my liver is swollen and my white cell count is @ 14. My OB said it would be ok to do a cat scan for more info but the MD said wait til the baby is born and have it because no matter what the prognosis it will be the same after the baby is born. And there is no point in the cat scan if he can't treat me. Any doctors out there have an opinion on weather i should have the cat scan? I'm 31yrs old. Thanks for your help.

Answer: Oh you poor thing. What a horrible situation to be in. I would probably want to get at least another opinion by another doctor. If it is cancer, I would think an earlier diagnosis would be better. Here is an article I found about the risk of CAT during pregnancy. http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnan… Obviously, you want to do all you can do to protect your baby. On the other hand, you want to do all you can do for yourself so that you are around for your baby. Definitely, though, seek out another opinion. This is far too important of decision to rely on one doctor's input. Good luck to you. Not sure if you are religious at all, but I will say a prayer for you and your baby. Hope you aren't offended by that...

Question: biology article HELP!!!!!? ok is this considered biology and could i use it for a report in which im supposed to write about wat i learned form the article.... A SUDDEN TURN: Gene Upshaw was diagnosed with pancreatic Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the National Football League Player's Association—the union for NFL players—died late Wednesday evening of pancreatic cancer while vacationing in California's Lake Tahoe. Doctors diagnosed the 63-year-old Hall of Fame offensive lineman with the disease just four days earlier. Upshaw was a guard for the Oakland Raiders from 1967 to 1981. He played in seven Pro Bowls and three Super Bowls. He served as head of the NFL player's union for 25 years. According to Bloomberg News, Upshaw's wife, Terri, took him to a hospital on Sunday, August 17th, because he was having trouble breathing. A biopsy revealed, much to everyone's surprise, that he had advanced pancreatic cancer. In March, actor Patrick Swayze—star of the hit 1980s film Dirty Dancing—revealed he had been diagnosed with the illness in January. Doctors' reports indicated they had caught his cancer relatively early. The pancreas secretes hormones and enzymes to digest our fats. One of those hormones is insulin, which prompts the body to use sugar in the blood rather than fat as energy. Its levels are low in diabetic patients, who suffer from abnormally high blood sugar. Only one fifth of Americans diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for a full year, according to the American Cancer Society, and it is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the country. How does the disease develop without noticeable symptoms and then kill so quickly? To find out, ScientificAmerican.com called Allyson Ocean, an oncologist at New York–Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, who specializes in gastrointestinal cancers including pancreatic cancer. An edited transcript follows: Why does pancreatic cancer kill so quickly? Pancreatic cancer is typically diagnosed at a late stage because it doesn't cause symptoms until it's too late. Weight loss, abdominal pain, jaundice [a yellowing of the skin due to toxic buildup in the liver]—those are the most common symptoms. They usually start after the tumor is a significant size. By then, chances are, it has metastasized [that is, spread to other parts of the body]. Only about 10 to 15 percent of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed when they could be considered for surgery. And the prognosis is poor even in patients who do have surgery, because it comes back about 85 percent of the time. At best, 25 to 30 percent of patients are alive five years after surgery. When doctors do pancreatic cancer surgery, they take out 95 percent of the pancreas, including the tumor, and then they leave a small remnant of the pancreas in there that serves [the insulin-producing] functions. If a person can live without a fully functional pancreas, then what, ultimately, kills most pancreatic cancer patients? When most patients die of pancreatic cancer, they die of liver failure from their liver being taken over by tumor. What precludes doctors from performing surgery on late-stage patients like Upshaw? We don't do surgery if the tumor has already spread outside the pancreas, because there's no survival benefit in removing the tumor. We also sometimes can't do surgery [when the tumor] involves the great blood vessels, the superior mesenteric vein and superior mesenteric artery. Those are the main vessels that come off of the aorta, the main artery in our body. If the tumor is wrapped around those blood vessels, then we can't take it out. Why is this particular cancer so aggressive? Because of the nature of the tumor cells. They escape the treatments, they hide out, and then they come back. And they grow again and they affect the liver and then they kill people. What are the biggest risk factors for pancreatic cancer? The biggest known risk factors are smoking and family history—it can be a hereditary disease. Then there are some other more obscure risk factors, such as defects in the anatomy of the pancreas, but that's very rare. What factors affect how early a person gets diagnosed? Depending on where the cancer is diagnosed in the pancreas, it can affect how soon it's diagnosed. For instance, if the cancer is in the head of the pancreas, which is close to the common bile duct, and it grows and it causes obstruction of the common bile duct, a patient can get jaundiced. And then they could [show symptoms] sooner than someone whose pancreatic cancer is in another part of the pancreas, like the tail. They would not present with jaundice, so we would not have a clue that there was necessarily anything wrong with them. What are some of main symptoms as the cancer progresses? Unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting. Back pain is another one, because the pancreas is very posterior in the body. Back pain is also the most common complaint that p

Answer: Yes that's Biology. You can use it.