In 2008, famed actor Patrick Swayze revealed that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is among the most deadly of cancers, usually killing a patient within months. However, Swayze's doctor claims that he has responded well to certain treatments, so well that he continued to act in a high-action television series. His response to pancreatic cancer is a sign of how the advancing of treatment options for pancreatic cancer can provide hope for other patients.
Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer involves cancer cells invading the pancreas, which is located behind the stomach and abdomen. The pancreas creates digestive juices that aide in breaking down foods. It also produces insulin, which helps turns sugars into glucose so that the organs have enough energy to function properly. When the pancreas is invaded by cancer cells, the body can become fatigued easily due to lack of insulin. With foods not being broken down properly, important nutrients cannot be absorbed.
Yet the most deadly part of pancreatic cancer is that it is considered a "silent" killer. There are few outright symptoms because the pancreas is not in an area that is easily identifiable or directly affecting of patients. With many diagnoses, pancreatic cancer has already reached late stages of development where the cancer cells have metastasized and spread to other organs.
Clean Living
One of the first treatments for pancreatic cancer is increasing a healthy living style. This involves quitting smoking, which is considered one of the highest risk factors for getting pancreatic cancer. Changing the diet to eating foods that are more easily digested can take pressure off the remaining functioning pancreas. This can mean a reduction in eating red meat or artificially processed foods.
Surgery
Surgery is often the most reliable form of treatment, provided that the pancreatic cancer cells have not spread too far. Again, this is dependent upon how early the cancer has been caught. Surgery involves removal of the infected pancreatic tissue and surrounding infected parts of the stomach or duodenum. Sometimes, if the pancreas cannot be removed, the surgeon will create a bypass around any blocked ducts that prevent the digestive juices from flowing into the body.
Chemotherapy
In conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy is often prescribed to kill off any remaining pancreatic cancer cells. It is applied in cycles to patients, with small recovery periods in between due to the heavy side effects. Chemotherapy can also be effective because, as mentioned earlier, pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed after it has metastasized. The chemicals can spread throughout the body and fight multiple tumors at once.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy exposes the affected area with intense doses of radiation, either through external exposure or localized placement near the affected area. The radiation shrinks the tumors by destroying their DNA without damaging surrounding tissue. This also helps patients because it can relieve digestive pain by quickly destroying tumors blocking the bile duct. Radiation treatment is applied five days a week for a fiv- to six-week period.
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