A pancreatic cancer survival rate refers to the percentage of people that have been reported yet in life after being diagnosed with cancer about 5 years ago.
This disease is the most deadly of all cancers and one with the lowest rate of survival. According to the American Cancer Society, only 5% of patients with this disease are alive 5 years after the cancer is located.
The United States, it is estimated that more than 30,000 people are diagnosed with this disease each year. What is surprising, is that many people do not know this and in addition, most of them is not determined is cancer of the pancreas. Another little known facts about this disease are that more than 60 000 cases are diagnosed each year in Europe.
The pancreas is a gland behind the stomach that is shaped a little wee as the form of a fish. It is less than 2 inches wide and six inches long. It extends through the abdomen. The pancreas has two functions. It decomposes fat and protein in the food we eat to the absorption of the body. The pancreas produces hormones to help balance the amount of sugar in the blood.
While cancer of the pancreas can affect anyone, the American Cancer Society has identified several risk factors for this disease:
* Nearly 70% of patients with this disease are over 55 years.
* Men suffer more often than women.
* Blacks are more likely to have this disease than whites.
* The risk is greater in smokers.
* There may be a link with the consumption of large quantities of red meat and pork, including meat processed (such as sausage and bacon).
* Very obese people are more likely to develop this disease by 20%.
This type of cancer is a fatal disease and pancreatic cancer survival is very poor. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of mortality due to cancer of the United States. More die of 98% of patients with pancreatic cancer.
Diagnosis of cancer at an early stage is very difficult because the symptoms in the early stages are vague and diagnostic procedures are not very reliable in the diagnosis of the disease at an early stage. The diagnosis is usually made in an advanced stage of the disease, which makes it very difficult to treat. Complete tumor resection is also not curative, and the survival rate of cancer of the pancreas is only 1 among the 20 people.
Recent studies and clinical trials offer promising results, but for the moment, the curative resection remains the only hope to improve the survival rates from cancer of the pancreas as a whole.
