Pancreas Cancer Types

Question: Father died of cancer in the pancreas, but on death certificate it says gastroenteritis? My father passed away early hours this morning, we all new he was suffering from cancer of the pancreas but today when we got his proof of death it states cancer and gastroenteritis? I typed it online but it doesn't make sense, it explains it happens after having pancreas cancer but I'm confused. what did he die of?

Answer: Sorry about your dad. I lost my dad two years ago. It's rough. But to answer your good question, it is difficult to label one cause of death when people die. As a cancer specialist doctor for 20 years, I filled out hundreds of these certificates. I was always tempted to just say "respiratory arrest" and "cardiac arrest" - since all of us die when we stop breathing and the heart stops. I was at the bedside when many of my patients died. In the vast majority of cases, people stop breathing first - then the heart stops. For many of my patients I could have listed half a dozen things that led to death. The underlying malignancy may be the main problem, but often it was a pneumonia or a blood clot or sepsis or a bleeding event that was the last straw. There are many ancillary events that may occur in a cancer patient. Gastroenteritis is a bit unusual to be listed as the primary final event - if this is how it was listed on the certificate. The form asks for contributing causes along with the main diagnosis. It may have been filled out late at night by a tired doctor who listed problems in reverse order. I can't tell you how many times I filled those forms out very late at night. Paperwork often gets done when patients and their family members are asleep and the phone stops ringing for a few hours. Being a cancer doctor is a 24/7 job. At the peak of my practice I was losing 20 people every month to advanced cancers. The worst day was five good people lost in one 24 hour period. I always felt that spending time with the patient and the family was more important than the after death paperwork - though I always had the paperwork done within 24 hours at the expense of sleep. It is necessary, and record keeping is part of the job.

Question: I was just told that I could possible have cancer of the pancreas? My dr. said I have a mass on the end of the pancreas that's about 2 inches long. I will be having more tests to see if it's spread. Has anyone had this type of cancer or know of anyone that has. Please if anyone could possible ease my mind.

Answer: "Natasha" is right - knowing your age would help, but a diagnosis of cancer requires biopsy proof. X-ray evidence of a 2 inch lesion is not enough to know for sure. Further tests will be needed to decide how best to make a tissue diagnosis - a biopsy. We would love to ease you mind about this, but we can't give you a good answer at this point.

Question: pancreas cancer do young people get it? wondering if only old people get this type of cancer or do some younger people get it?and can it be cured?

Answer: It is rare for anyone under 45 to have pancreatic cancer and it is nothing like an ulcer.

Question: Explain the process of how smoking can lead to pancreatic cancer. How can this habit destroy the pancreas? We found out that Patrick Swayze, who recently died of this type of cancer last night, was a smoker. Regrettably, he did not completely quit. Of course, cigarette smoke has a lot of lung-damaging chemicals, such as benzene and CO, but what is the one thing in this smoke which can can wreak havoc with the pancreas?

Answer: No one can explain this process to you as no one knows what causes cancer. Most cancers have known risk factors and we know what they are by the information we keep, but very often we don’t know why they are risk factors. Pancreatic cancer surgery is very extensive and takes several hours. The national mortality rate is 18%, but drops to 5% with an experienced surgeon. However, this is not the reason it is seldom performed. The reason is only 5-20% have resectable disease at the time of diagnosis. There is no bright side to this disease. Less than 20% survive the first year. Less than 3% survive 5 years. The median survival for patients with unresectable or metastatic disease is 2-6 months.

Question: What type of cancer did Paul Newman die of? Prostate, lung, liver, pancreas, etc? Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. What a great actor and humanitarian.

Answer: lung cancer http://www.emaxhealth.com/1/99/25023.htm…

Question: Do people with pancreatic cancer automatically also become type 1 diabetics? I would imagine that if their pancreas was rotting away with cancer, the Islets of Langerhans would be toast also. Anybody know?

Answer: My mom just died from pancreatic cancer, and she never developed diabetes

Question: whats the most dangerous type of cancer? breast? lung? liver? pancreas? etc..i know they're all serious, but in some u have more years to survive and in some u can beat it and stop it from spreading..but what's the most dangerous type of cancer ?

Answer: Actually the worst survival rate is gallbladder cancer, followed by pancreatic cancer. For sheer number of cases, lung cancer would be the most deadly, but far more survivable than the two I mentioned above.

Question: Which type of cancer is most prevalent in children? A. leukemia B. lung C. pancreas D. colon? thanks guys

Answer: Leukemia

Question: Have you ever lost a loved one to cancer? If so, who and what type of cancer? I recently lost my grandmother to cancer of the pancreas. Thanks in Advance

Answer: I almost lost my dad to leukemia when i was 13. now hes in remission. and now my grandpa has leukemia and not doin very well.

Question: If I get a CT scan of my thoracic cavity, will they be able to see my pancreas/esophagus? I have a supraclavicular lymph node that is swollen and am getting a CT but am concerned because it's only the thoracic area and I'm concerned about other types of cancer . . . (too much Googling)

Answer: Definately will be able to see your esophagus, and maybe your pancrease. (It depends on how far down they go with the scanning. For pancrease imaging you need an abdominal CT scan.) However, there are a lot of diseases that can effect the esophagus that may not show up well on a CT scan. Generally you need an upper GI endoscopy (an upper scope) to get a view of the esophagus.

Question: Any one know of state of the art screening for Pancreatic Cancer anywhere in the world? My Father and my Brother died of Cancer of the Pancreas. I am concerned and am looking for someone or some program that offers any type of screening for this desease. I have been told there is none but there must be someone some where who is at least trying to screen people. OBTW I am 65 years old.

Answer: I sure don't but be proactive.If you ever have any symptoms don't ignore them.You may explain your situation to your Physician.He can order the test but I am sure insurance will not pay.

Question: Out of these 48,which types of cancer are not related to smoking? 1) Lip 2 Tongue 3) Salivary Gland 4) Gum 5) Floor of Mouth 6) Other Mouth 7) Oropharynx 8) Nasopharynx 9) Hypopharynx 10) Pharynx 11) Oesophagus 12)Stomach 13) Small Intestine 14) Colon 15) Rectum 16) Liver 17) Gall Bladder 18) Pancreas 19) Retroperitoneum 20) Dig System 21) Nasal Cavity 22) Larynx 23) Lung 24) Pleura 25)Thymus 26) Other Resp. 27) Bone 28) Conn. Tissue 29) Skin Melanoma 30) Skin. Other 31) Breast Male 32) Prostate 33) Testis 34) Penis Etc. 35) Uri. Bladder 36) Kidney 37) Eye 38) Brain 39) Nervous System 40) Thyroid Gland 41) Oth. Endo. Gland 42)Sec. Lymph. Node 43) Lymphosarcoma 44) Hodgkins. Disease 45) Mult. Myeloma 46) Leuk. Lymphatic 47) Leuk. Myelocytic 48) Leuk. Monocytic

Answer: 100% of them. No cancer has been PROVEN to have been caused by smoking. Also it would be pretty silly to say rectum cancer was caused by smoking don't you think?

Question: Can someone have a pancreas transplant? in light of Patrick swayze's untimely diagnoses of pancreatic cancer and my mother having type 2 diabetes. I was wondering if someone could have a pancreas transplant. I mean take out a non working one and put in a new one boom, insulin production. This could also help people with type 1 diabets. . . or is it not as simple as i think? Has there ever been one attempted?

Answer: There have been many attemtps, worldwide, at pancreas transplants ... going back to at least the early 1980s that I know of, and probably before then. Sadly, it's as you assume. It really isn't as simple as one might believe. All sorts of complications set in when the body's autoimmune system sees this 'foreign body' and sets about destroying it. Piggyback pancreas transplants have also been tried, whereby the recipient's own pancreas has been left in, and another placed besides it to 'take over'. The hope was that the body wouldn't then reject the new one. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Having said that, with the introduction of anti-rejection drugs, there has been limited success. The current thing with type diabetes is islet cell transplantation where the islets of Langerhans are being transplanted to the liver of the recipient. This is in an area of the body where there is a good supply of oxygen-rich blood. The hope, therefore, is that these islets will 'bed' themselves in and start producing insulin. So far there has been limited success as the body still sees them as a foreign body and attempts to destroy them. Currently, an American company is attempting to 'cover' the islet cells, prior to transplantation with a substance that's extracted from seaweed which prevents the islet cells from being attacked. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this meets with a better success rate. (I'm following the progress with interest as I'm currently being considered for just such an implant.)

Question: Type 1 diabetes/ Pancreas question...? I have type 1 diabetes and I was just wondering, since my pancreas isn't "functioning" how it's supposed to am I at risk for pancreatic cancer or any serious health risks besides the ones I already know, such as amputations, strokes, heart attacks, etc...

Answer: No, we are lucky, our pancreases (or however you pluralize it) are dead, so we don't have to worry about them. Now, the rest of our insides.....

Question: Which type of cancer is most prevalent in children? leukemia lung pancreas colon

Answer: leukemia

Question: do non pregnant women have the hcg hormone in their blood/urine at all? besides this: In a man or a nonpregnant woman, a high hCG level can mean a tumor (cancerous or noncancerous) that develops from a sperm or egg cell (germ cell tumor), such as a tumor of the testicles or ovaries, is present. It may also mean some types of cancer, such as cancer of the stomach, pancreas, large intestine, liver, or lung. i mean like healthy women..

Answer: Some women can have HCG in their system, but always a low number of it. If your HCG is under 5 then you're not pregnant. I don't know how HCG would be related to cancer, as HCG is the hormone that's produced when a human is growing in the body.