| Theme | Preventive Medicine of Gastrointestinal Cancer | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Risk Factors for and Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer | |
| Publish Date | 2006/06 | |
| Author | Eiji Uchida | Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School |
| Author | Takayuki Aimoto | Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School |
| Author | Yoshiharu Nakamura | Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School |
| Author | Akira Katsuno | Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School |
| Author | Takashi Tajiri | Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School |
| [ Summary ] | Pancreatic cancer is a very serious disease with poor prognoses. New strategies for its diagnosis and treatment are required. Although pancreatic cancer has poor survival rates, this disease, when detected in the early stages, can be cured. For early diagnosis, risk factors for pancreatic cancer should be studied. Known risk factors for pancreatic cancer are age, smoking, family history, high alcohol consumption, food with high cholesterol and low vegetable in take, as well as obesity. Diseases associated with pancreatic cancers are diabetes mellitus, chronic pancreatitis, intraductal mucinous cystic tumors and some hereditary diseases. Patients with the risk factors mentioned above should be routinely checked with CT and US, especially when they have symptoms associated with pancreatic cancer, such as abdomino-back pain, jaundice, weight loss, or deterioration associated with diabetes mellitus. In the near future, early stage pancreatic cancer will hopefully be diagnosed in patients not displaying obvious symptoms by employment of new modalities, such as molecular diagnosis. |
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