Pancreatic cancer diagnosis

It seems that there is now a way of detecting pancreatic cancer in an early stage without having to do a biopsy of the pancreas! Read more here.

It's based on light and it could be helpful for people who have a high risk factor of getting pancreatic cancer. In other words: for you and me, it's again no miracle diagnosis.

People with high risk of getting pancreatic cancer can now undergo a routine endoscopic biopsy of the duodenum: the upper part of the small intestine just behind your stomach.

When an early-stage pancreatic cancer is present, cells in the duodenum give off different light-scattering effects in this new test.

Seems we are still far from a real practical test and still nobody is talking about cancer prevention :-(

Pancreatic cancer causes

As part of the digestive system, the pancreas has two important functions which are:

1. to produce digestive juices and enzymes and


2. secretes hormones.

People who have close relatives that suffered from pancreatic cancer have a higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer themselves. In addition a number of genetic diseases have been associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. This includes cancers of various types.

Yet according to researchers, only about 10% of pancreatic cancers are a result of genetic predisposition. A greater number of other factors, such as smoking, diet and chemical exposure are thought to increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Same now what is happening with dad and his colon cancer: there is a great chance that this colon cancer runs in our family (although most family members on father's side live up to a ripe old age, except for the ones that were killed
because of the second world war).

With father's metastatic liver cancer the doctor didn't ask about our families genetic cancer stories, but was more interested in finding the primary cancer, therefore asking about fathers' smoking habits and his exposure to asbestos,
as father has been a lot on construction sides when he was younger...

Alternative pancreatic cancer treatment

Non-traditional approaches to healing are getting popular nowadays especially in cases when standard medical treatment is not able to provide a cure. I still remember the emails I got about liver cleansing when father was diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.

Alternative therapies may include folk medicine, herbal medicine, diet fads, homeopathy, new age and faith healing, acupuncture, massage, music therapy, naturopathy etc. It is believed that this alternative treatment should be used to complement traditional medicine instead of replacing them in totality.

Anyone looking for alternative treatments should view sites that provide such info with skepticism but with an open mind. If possible look for scientific evidence that a certain procedure works but unfortunately many of these have not been subjected to rigorous scientific testing.

Can God cure cancer?

I just saw on TV a Giant somewhere in Russia that killed his own brain tumor "just by praying" or by cheer luck, who will ever know?

Be aware of the “Placebo Effect” where people when they start believing a certain therapy will work, they sometimes sense an improvement.

It would be prudent to discuss with your own physician or healthcare provider before embarking on any of the new techniques or alternative approaches.

As a last idea I remember somebody talking to father that now he had cancer he should visit Norway... The same person went to Norway himself the next year. Just to say that what other people are saying, sometimes says more about them than about you, your cancer or an eventual cure for your cancer!

Pancreatic cancer stage iv survivors

If you want to be part of the small group of pancreatic cancer stage iv survivors you need to be very strong!

Stage 4 pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer has reached stage 4 if the tumor has spread from the pancreas to other organs like lungs, kidney or liver. In the last case you then have metastatic liver cancer like father.

Pancreatic cancer stage iv survivors are little

Unfortunately there are no much survivors that underwent chemotherapy. The typical drug used will be 5-FU, the same chemotherapy they advised my father not to take. Why not? Because father would have been killed by the chemotherapy in stead of the metastatic liver cancer. It's a very difficult choice to make.

People with stage 4 pancreatic cancer do get chemotherapy, but you need to know that this is just part of palliative care, meaning, it's not meant to cure you but to make your life as good as possible. As good as possible could mean every 2 weeks chemotherapy of which you will be 1 week vomiting in bed.

But the stage had been set: we are already talking here about palliative care and no more about a cancer cure. As said before, there are very few pancreatic cancer stage iv survivors.

Latest pancreatic cancer treatment

Researchers from the US Based Radiation Therapy Oncology Group said that according to their findings, a combination of the chemotherapy 5-FU and gemcitabine (Gemzar) should be the new standard treatment for patients who have undergone surgery for pancreatic cancer.

5-FU was also the drug father should have been prescribed if he had opted to undergo chemotherapy. But father kind of made his last joke when he said " F you 5-FU! " ...

The clinical tests involved more than 500 people who suffered from the disease.

About half of them were treated with gemcitabine alone and the other half received gemcitabine along with another chemotherapy treatment with either cisplatin or Eloxatin.

It appears that a combination of other drugs with chemotherapy gemcitabine is able to extend the lives of people whose cancer is already in the advanced stage.

As you can see: there is no mention about quality of life, just mention of "extend the lives" ...

It was also found that higher-than-standard doses of gemcitabine, or combining gemcitabine with oxaliplatin does not seem to benefit sufferers of advanced pancreatic cancer.

All in all not the break through latest pancreatic cancer treatment I was hoping for.