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Definition
Pancreatic cancer is an adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (carcinoma of the pancreas). Cancer of the pancreas is usually lethal. The pancreas is a gland that secretes both digestive enzymes and insulin (from special cells called islet cells). Estimated new cases and deaths from pancreatic cancer in the United States in 2009 are as follows:
New cases: 42,470
Deaths: 35,240
Characteristics
Anatomy
The pancreas is located on the upper abdomen located in the midst of many vital organs, including the liver, spleen, stomach, small bowel, and large bowel. Because of its central location, it is very problematic when cancer spreads from the pancreas directly into the adjacent organs. In addition, the head of the pancreas (the portion on the patient’s right side) covers the common bile duct. The common bile duct is the duct through which bile runs from the liver and gall bladder and is mixed with pancreatic juices and then emptied into the small bowel. Blockage...
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References
Brentnall TA, Bronner MP, Byrd DR et al (1999) Early diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic dysplasia in patients with a family history of pancreatic cancer. Ann Intern Med 131:247–255
Burris HA III, Moore MJ, Andersen J et al (1997) Improvements in survival and clinical benefit with gemcitabine as first-line therapy for patients with advanced pancreas cancer: a randomized trial. J Clin Oncol 15:2403–2413
Greenlee RT, Murray T, Bolden C et al (2000) Cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin 50:7–33
Moertel CG, Frytat S, Hahn RG et al (1981) Therapy of locally unresectable pancreatic carcinoma: a randomized comparison of high dose (6000 rads) radiation alone, moderate dose radiation (4000 rads + 5-fluorouracil), and high dose radiation + 5-fluorouracil. Cancer 48:1705–1713
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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von Hoff, D.D. (2014). Pancreatic Cancer. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4356-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4356-8
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9
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