(Savannah) Patrick Swayze put up a courageous and public fight helping raise awareness about pancreatic cancer. Here's what you should know. Pancreatic Cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer death. 42,470 new cases will be diagnosed this year and 35,240 people will ultimately die from the disease. The lifetime risk of having pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 76. The pancreas is a gland about 6 inches long and shaped like a pear. It lies behind the stomach and in front of the spine. Dr. Stephen Yeager specializes in pancreatic cancer. He says the survival rate is not good even when diagnosed early, but surgery is the best chance for patients to live a longer life. “If it can be resected and treated with chemo and radiation, 5 year survival approach is 20%. If it cannot be resected surgically the survival at 1 year is only 1%. So it's a very lethal disease. Unfortunately we don't have a great way of diagnosing it," says Dr. Yeager.
Pancreatic Cancer often spreads before you notice it. Here are some early warning signs that should be checked out.... pain in your abdomen, weight loss, and diabetes. "The most common symptom that leads us to an early diagnosis is jaundice. So if you notice any turning of the color of your skin or your eyes, that's an early warning sign for pancreatic cancer also," says Dr. Yeager. There's no screening test for the disease. The pancreatic cancer action network is pushing for a program that would help find a cure. Their website is http://www.pancreaticcanceractionnetwork.org.
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