Fast track your treatment
To book an appointment or speak with one of our friendly team, please get in touch using the options below
The type of treatment you’re offered depends on the type and stage of your pancreatic cancer, plus your overall health.
Your pancreas is a large gland that’s part of your digestive system. It sits just behind your stomach and creates digestive enzymes to break down food. It also makes insulin to keep your blood sugar levels stable.
Normally, your body replaces the cells in your body as it needs to. If you have pancreatic cancer, the cells in your pancreas grow and multiply in an irregular way. Rather than multiplying as and when they’re needed, in cancer the process of creating new cells becomes uncontrolled.
The pancreas looks a bit like a leaf – thicker at one end (the head) and narrower at the other (the tail). You can get pancreatic cancer in the head, the tail or the body (the bit in between) of the pancreas. Your symptoms will differ depending on which part of the pancreas is affected.
The majority of pancreatic cancers – around three out of four – start in the head of the pancreas.
References
1 Cancer Research UK, Pancreatic cancer risks and causes https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/pancreatic-cancer/risks-causes
2 Cancer Research UK, Pancreatic cancer risks and causes https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/pancreatic-cancer/risks-causes
3 Cancer Research UK, Pancreatic cancer risks and causes https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/pancreatic-cancer/risks-causes
There are a few different types of pancreatic cancer, although the most common types are exocrine cancers.
Exocrine cancers
This type of cancer starts in the exocrine part of the pancreas that produces digestive juices. There are several types of exocrine pancreatic cancers, but more than eight out of ten are adenocarcinomas. Most of these are a ductal adenocarcinoma, which means the cancer starts in the lining of the pancreas ducts.
Other types of exocrine cancer are rare but include:
Endocrine pancreatic tumours
This type of cancer is quite rare. It starts in the endocrine part of the pancreas, which is where hormones like insulin are made and released into the blood. You may also hear this type of cancer called pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNETS) or islet cell tumours.
Around one in three of endocrine pancreatic tumours produce hormones. They’re usually non-cancerous (benign) but can produce unexpected symptoms because of the hormones.
Two in three pancreatic tumours don’t produce hormones or symptoms. These are most often cancerous (malignant).
Rare types of pancreatic cancer
There are other types of pancreatic cancer, but these are rare. They’re usually treated differently to common exocrine cancers and include:
The exact cause of pancreatic cancer isn’t understood, but there are a number of factors that can put you at risk including:
Some of the following medical conditions may also increase your risk of pancreatic cancer:
In the early stages pancreatic cancer rarely causes symptoms. When symptoms do occur they are often vague but can include:
There are other possible symptoms you might experience if you have pancreatic cancer, including:
It’s important to remember that other health conditions can cause symptoms similar to pancreatic cancer. But if you do notice any of these symptoms, you should get them looked into by your doctor so you can treat any problems early.
Diagnosing pancreatic cancer
If you are worried about any symptoms you may have your first port of call would be your GP. Your doctor may want to examine you, and ask questions about your health and symptoms. Your doctor will also check the whites of your eyes and your look at your skin to check if there are signs of jaundice. A urine test and blood tests may also be requested. If your doctor thinks you need further tests, you will be referred to a specialist consultant.
At Circle Health, our consultants may want to run the following tests:
Stages of pancreatic cancer
After your tests, your doctor or pancreatic consultant will tell you what stage your pancreas cancer is at by looking at a sample of your cancer cells under a microscope. This describes how big your tumour is and how far it’s spread. This will influence the type of treatment you’re offered.
For more information about each stage, please read Cancer Research UK’s article about the stages of pancreatic cancer.
The type of treatment you’re offered depends on the type and stage of your pancreatic cancer, plus your overall health.
However, treatment for the different types of exocrine pancreatic cancer is generally the same, and surgery is most often the main treatment.
Surgery to remove pancreatic cancer
This is a common treatment for stage 1 and stage 2 pancreatic cancer. Your surgeon will only do this if you’re fit enough and they think it will be possible to remove all the cancer.
Surgery to relieve your symptoms
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed too late for surgery to be an effective option to remove the cancer. But surgery can help to relieve symptoms like jaundice or sickness.
Relieving symptoms with stents
A stent is a small tube used to relieve blockages. Your consultant will guide the stent into a blocked bile duct to help it stay open. This will enable bile to drain and help to improve any symptoms of jaundice.
Sometimes pancreatic cancer can block the top of your small bowel. If this happens, food can’t pass along the bowel and so it builds up in the stomach. This build up makes you sick – but bypass surgery can help to alleviate these symptoms.
Chemotherapy
If you have had surgery to remove your cancer you might need chemotherapy to lower the risk of the cancer coming back. Or if your cancer is advanced, you might need chemotherapy to shrink the cancer and relieve your symptoms.
Radiotherapy
It’s quite uncommon to use radiotherapy to treat pancreatic cancer, but it may be offered in certain situations to help shrink the tumour or relieve symptoms instead of surgery.
After treatment
You’ll have regular check-ups following your treatment. How often and for how long depends on the kind of pancreatic cancer treatment that you had.
At follow-up appointments, your doctor will ask how you’re feeling and examine you and you may need a combination of tests which can include blood tests, a CT scan or ultrasound scan.
If you’re worried or spot any new symptoms between appointments, you should tell your doctor or liver consultant as soon as you can.
Paying for your treatment
You have two options to pay for your treatment – your costs may be covered by your private medical insurance, or you can pay for yourself.
Check with your private medical insurer to see if your diagnostic costs are covered under your medical insurance policy.
If you are paying for your own treatment the cost of the procedure will be explained and confirmed in writing when you book the operation.
Ask the hospital for a quote beforehand, and ensure that this includes the consultants’ fees and the hospital charge for your procedure.
Want to know more?
If you’d like to read more about pancreatic cancer, treatment or living with pancreatic cancer, please visit cancerresearchuk.org.uk.