Pancreas Cancer Survival

Question: What is the current treatment and prognosis for the average survival rate of pancreas cancer? THIS NEEDS TO BE CANADIAN INFO

Answer: Generally speaking, there are only two treatments for pancreatic cancer, depending on both the stage as well as the location on the pancreas. The surgical treatment, coupled with post-surgical chemo-therapy, can be subdivided into two types: A. The Whipple Procedure: When pancreatic cancer involving the head of the pancreas is diagnosed, the removal of the head of the pancreas as well as the curve of the duodenum (Pancreato-Duodenectomy) is performed, whereas bypassing the stomach to the jejunum of the intestine is necessary. This procedure can only be performed if the cancer is localized to the head of the pancreas only, and has not metastasized to adjacent parts or organs. B. Distal Pancreatectomy is performed when cancer involves the body and the distal part of the pancreas, in which they are removed. In this case, the spleen is mostly preserved. In both cases, the procedure can be very vastly invasive, and as such, not only does the patient need to meet the diagnostic criteria of being diagnosed at a sufficiently early stage, without any metastasis, but that the patient should be in a condition that is good enough to undergo majorly ivnasive surgery of this caliber. However, there have been attempts at performing such procedures laparoscopically, being minimally invasive. However, many oncologists generally prefer performing the procedure the "usual" way, as they get a better look of things and get to be more aggressive in terms of removal of affected organs as they need to be. Needless to say, not many patients meet those criteria, simply due to the fact that pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at more advanced stages, and considering the fact that patients aren't always in the physical condition to withstand surgery. The alternative treatment is chemotherapy using gemcitabine, for patients who are not fit for surgery, is used. It does not cure the cancer, but it improves the 5-year survival rate by 20% at best, sadly. However, it does improve the quality of life for patients. The average survival rate from diagnosis on is generally 3-6 months in metastasized/advaced stage cancer, in which cases they are deemed terminal. However, if it is diagnozed sufficiently early, the prognosis can be very good-- with surgery and chemotherapy, the patient -can- actually have a full recovery, except for becoming diabetic. But again, sadly, pancreatic cancer patients are often diagnosed at advanced stages due to the aggressive nature of the malignancy as well as the type of symptoms it presents with, which generally leads patients to dismiss it until it has metastasized and is causing more serious symptoms.

Question: cancer of the pancreas survival limited? my father has been told he has this and soon will be told how long he has how do we help him and yet help ourselves?

Answer: As human beings we want to keep our loved ones around forever but in a situation like this the best thing to do is to be open and honest. If you feel something, talk about it and express your emotions, it you have questions ask. The most important thing to remember is that every ones emotions are running on high and no one should be offended by someone Else's reactions to the situation. If the pancreatic cancer has spread to the liver the life expectancy is around 3 - 6 months. Make the most of the time that you have left. Do things that you thought you would never do and don't leave things unsaid or you will be wondering all of your life how things would have been if you would have talked about or did certain things. Been where you are did not like it but have no regrets because we made the best of a horrible situation. God Bless you and may He bring you peace in your time of need.

Question: cancer of the pancreas. Do you know someone that has beaten it? Does anyone know of someone who has had a large tumor in their pancreas that is malignant and had it removed and are cancer free? A member of my family has been diagnosed and the survival stats seem so low. It seems the cancer always comes back.

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Question: what are the survival chances for pancreatic and stomach.cancer what are the best choices to think of help? a mass was found in one of my family members pancreas which is also next to stomach.Waiting for results to see what stage. What can i do or say to help with this devastating news.

Answer: Pancreatic cancer is a really nasty, unfortunately. The stage is important. The stage of the cancer is important to determine prognosis. Part of why pancreatic cancers are so awful is that they are often very advanced when they are detected. Sorry to hear that this has happened to someone in your family. Stay positive and, more importantly, try to keep them positive. Even though it's a nasty tumor, there are certainly plenty of people who have beaten it.

Question: Survival rate for cancer that has spread to a part of liver? My brother was operated for Bile duct cancer in Jan 09" and his Bile duct, duodenum was removed. there was a Biopsy done after the operation and the area was found to be clean. My brother visited the doctor's office every month for regular checkup and he seemed to be recovering fast (the doctor did not order any further tests surprisingly). In october, he complained about pain in his upper abdomen and seemed to be losing wait. The doctor nowordered tests and found that there was metastatis in parts of the lever and pancreas. The doctor has recommended six chemo sessions. My brother is just 30 years old. I spoke to him very recently over phone and he seemd to be in the best of spirits and said that he has no sign of any discomfort except for some fleeting pain in upper abdomen. Please, let me know of any cases similar to this , what are chances of his survival?

Answer: If it was not cured on surgery it isn’t curable. Patient’s with liver invasion have a median survival of 1-3 years.

Question: Is removing the pancreas a suitable treatment against pancreatic cancer? If pancreatic cancer is discovered while it hasnt yet metastisized, can removing the pancreas give the patient a good prognosis? I know this will cause diabetes and other digestive problems that can be resolved with enzyme replacement, but it seems 100 times better than a 5% chance of a 5-year-or-better survival rate. Here's a man who's had it removed: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200… C C I provided you with an article to read. You can live without your pancreas. People get it removed for reasons less fatal than cancer. Having it removed is definitely better than living with pancreatic cancer where 75% are expected to die within months. Your experience doesn't trump the big picture.

Answer: The problem is that this particular type of cancer mestasizes incredibly quickly. You would have to catch it pretty damn early to be able to pull it out.

Question: Survival of non hodgkin's lymphoma on pancreas? My dad has non hodgkins lymphoma. A tumor the size of a grapefruit on his pancreas. He is 66 and was quite healthy until recently. The dr says that it is growing rapidly, which is a good thing, im not sure why. He is under going chemo and radiation. They also said there are cancer cells through out his body. I am looking for people whome have had simular situations and how long they survived. thank you

Answer: Well the only thing I can answer is the part about it being fast growing. It's good that it's fast growing because chemo will work better on it. Chemo kills all rapid growing cells like your hair so having a faster growing cancer is better. Sorry I don't have more answers but I hope he makes a full recovery.

Question: Question about pancreatic cancer? Attn: Health care providers? Do you think they should make testing for pancreatic cancer a preventive measure, like the PSA is for prostate cancer. The survival rate of pancreatic cancer is very low and if say at age 45 the insurance covers a sonar or ct of the pancreas to catch it early so that many lives can be saved.

Answer: While pancreas cancer (PC) is not common compared to lung, breast, colon, and prostate, it is disproportionately lethal as nearly all with it will die. It is true that even when caught early this disease is extremely difficult to eradicate (not impossible, difficult). Screening tests have to have several characteristics: cost-effective, safe, reliable, predictive. No current testing is good enough for PC. Most xray results would be false positives (and then require more work-up for people who are really well but no one believes it because the xray results look bad). Expense is a big issue, since again most people will be negative and you will be screening millions to pick up ~30-35,000 cases/year. Unfortunately, societal greater good trumps individual preferences here. We do desperately need better preventive and screening measures for PC, but screening CT and US are not the answer. Maybe a blood test will be developed... God bless, best wishes

Question: survival rate after the whipple with small amount of cancer remaining? My friend was diagnosed in april 08 with stage 1 pancreatic cancer. has had chemo and radiation since which stopped the tumor from growing. underwent the whipple 2 days ago. The cancer did not spread and was only in the head of the pancreas They removed 95% of the tumor. The remaining 5% is laying right ontop of the artery. when they pull the tumor up it was what was left i guess and they did not want to scrape it. My question is does anyone know what her outcome might be? i know theres to many outcomes to consider but a general idea of what to expect? Could the remaining 5% be treated with chemo and radiation?

Answer: I am sorry about your friend. Unfortunately pancreatic cancer does not have as many variables as you may think. It is possible to treat the remaining 5% with chemo and radiation, but it is not likely to be curative. For someone in your friends position the 5-year survival rate ranges anywhere from 3-25%. In addition to the patient’s performance status there are 4 symptoms that usually influence survival dyspnea, anorexia, weight loss and xerostomia (dry mouth). The higher the patient’s performance status and the fewer of these symptoms the longer the patient usually lives. Patients with adenocarcinoma do very poorly with a 5-year survival rate of less than 3% with more than 80% surviving less than 1 year.

Question: I have a question about pancreatic cancer? Mary has a routine test which reveals liver abnormality. Mary finds out she has cysts in her pancreas. Mary undergoes surgery to remove some of the pancreas. Mary has to have all of pancreas and her spleen removed. Mary finds out that the tumors were cancerous, and now has to undergo chemotherapy. .....what are her chances of survival...?

Answer: Well from what I hear the chances of surviving chemotherapy are small, burning and cutting out the cancer doesn't do much either as it just spreads and spreads ... but perhaps Mary should take a look at this book "A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases and the Cure of Advanced Cancer" it details 50 cases where Dr Max Gerson treated patients who had been sent home to die from a variety of terminal cancers and he cured them with nutrition !! no drugs !! There is a cover up going on, the pharmaceuticals don't want you to use alternative therapies because they can't make money out of you then. There is a good movie out called 'The beautiful Truth' -it also talks about Gerson Therapy. In a nutshell it's about staying away from process food and juicing fresh raw veg and fruit-a lot of it. If you take this approach I'd say her chances are very good :) Also try reading up about laetrile or vitamin B17 -a good movie for it is called "G. Edward Griffin - World Without Cancer (The Story of Vitamin B17)" Get well soon God Bless

Question: one year cancer survivor party? i would like to celebrate the one year anniversary of my mom's surgery and survival. She had 70 percent of her pancreas taken out and her whole spleen. the cancer was destroyed on the pancreas but there were spots found on her liver. Her last hospital visit was in February. She's back at work and I'm so proud of her. How do I let her know how much this anniversary means to me?

Answer: I would take her out for dinner and whatever she likes to do and tell her how much you love her and glad she is still here with you. I am sure that you have already let her know this many time over in the last year especially. My husband is a 2 year survivor this year. I know what you went through with her. Lots of luck for more years to come.

Question: Can a lump on the pancreas be.....? Just a cyst? Also what is the survival rate of pancreatic cancer??

Answer: Yes it can be just a cyst. The radiologist would know if it was a cyst or a tumor. However, there are some pancreatic cysts that are pre-cancerous and cancerous, so you should have a biopsy. Unlike solid tumors they have a high cure rate. The survival rates for pancreatic cancer is very poor, less than 20% survive the first year and only about 3% are alive 5 years after diagnosis.

Question: Do you know anyone who has or did have pancreatic cancer? The reason i'm asking is because i'm pretty certain my mum has it.You see she has been really poorly since last year and when she was in hospital in November they warned us that it could be pancreatic cancer she has.She has a continuous burning sensation in her stomach and when i recently watched a interview with Patrick Swayze who has pancreatic cancer he said he feels like someone is tiping acid on his pancreas.I haven't told my mum i saw this interview because i don't want her upset anymore than she already is.She goes the hospital next week when all will be confirmed.I'm just praying it isn't because without her my life will be so bad.She is such a lovely person and like a best friend to me as well as a mum.She's always there for me when i need anything.What i'm asking this question for is if you know anyone else who has it what are the survival rates.Please only serious answers

Answer: Dave darling, I am so terribly sorry you are having to go through this, i have been through it myself and I know just how you are feeling, the shock, the grief, the worry! Is your mum jaundiced at all? One of the more common cancers of the pancreas is head of pancreas which makes the patient yellow. If this burning is the only symptom she is experiencing, I am thinking that the chances are equally likely to be pancreatitis which is inflammation of the pancreas and not cancer at all. Pancreatic cancer CAN be removed as long as it hasn't spread to surrounding organs or lymph nodes. Please if you are able to remember with all that you have on your mind, could you possibly email me and let me know the results next week? I am so concerned for you. It is equally possible that it is not cancer sweetheart, there is nothing in what you describe which makes me think that it definitely is. My thoughts and prayers will be winging their way to you and your mum.. Love and hugs. Mel.

Question: Surviving cancer or time left? What are the chances of survival or the diagnosis of months left to live) for a 65-yr-old woman who had a malignant tumor removed from her intestine but which metastasized away to her liver, kidneys, pancreas and stomach? The woman in question is one of my dearest aunts and I live overseas and I need to figure out how fast I need to save money to go meet her, hopefully not for the last time.

Answer: Her cancer is not curable and with the metastatic sites you listed she will not likely last long. You need to get there as soon as you can. I am very sorry.