Pancreatic cancer: What you should know about Steve Jobs' disease
As the world mourns the death of great innovator and former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, you might be wondering about the disease that ended his life. While Jobs was tight-lipped about the condition of his health, medical experts are reportedly speculating that his death was a result of the pancreatic cancer he lived with for more than seven years.
So what is pancreatic cancer, exactly? You may recall it as the disease that killed Patrick Swayze in 2009 after a long battle. According to Pancreatic Cancer Canada, it’s the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in this country, and that may be because the disease doesn’t cause any signs or symptoms in its early stages. The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that more than 4,000 new cases will be diagnosed in 2011.
The pancreas is an organ located behind the lower part of the stomach that aids in digestion by secreting hormones and enzymes that regulate metabolism. There are two types of pancreatic cancer, and the most common kind, called exocrine pancreatic cancer, grows in the pancreatic cells that produce digestive enzymes. The less common kind, called islet cell cancer, grows in the cells that produce hormones. That’s the kind Jobs reportedly had surgery to treat in 2004.
[Also see: 20 ways to prevent cancer]
There aren’t any nerves in the pancreas, so it can’t send pain messages to your brain. That allows for a pancreatic tumor to go undetected until it’s grown large enough to press on nearby nerves, intestines and bile ducts. At that point, symptoms may arise and include pain in the upper abdomen, weight loss, loss of appetite, bloating and nausea. Once detected, doctors may recommend treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation or surgery to remove the cancer or even the entire pancreas.
Unfortunately, the illness often has a poor prognosis because tumors go undetected until the cancer has spread beyond the pancreas to other organs like the liver. According to Pancreatic Cancer Canada, only six percent of patients live at least five years after diagnosis.
Another factor that makes pancreatic cancer tough to detect is that many people who develop the disease generally don't have any specific risk factors. This makes it hard to know how to prevent pancreatic cancer. Some risk factors listed by the Canadian Cancer Society include age, heredity, smoking obesity.
Do you know someone whose life has been touched by pancreatic cancer? Share your story with us.
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