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Encyclopedia of Cancer pp 1–6Cite as

Pancreatitis

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Definition

Pancreatitis is a disease characterized by the inflammation of exocrine pancreas that is initiated by the premature activation and intracellular release of the digestive enzymes produced in pancreatic acinar cells. The release of these enzymes causes destruction of acinar cells and a subsequent robust inflammatory response, resulting in a significant injury to the pancreas.

Characteristics

Pancreatitis was first described as a disease of autodigestion in 1896 by pathologist Hans Chiari. Common symptoms include searing upper abdominal pain that radiates into the back; nausea and vomiting, especially after eating; fever; rapid heartbeat; and jaundice (the yellowing of the skin, the whites of the eyes (conjunctiva), and mucous membranes caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the blood that may be due to liver damage as well as other diseases) – discoloration is the result of increased levels of bilirubin in the blood due to obstruction of the biliary drainage from the liver...

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See Also

  • (2012) Diet. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 1109. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1610

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  • Gooch JW (2011) Discoloration. In: Gooch JW (ed) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Polymers, 2nd edn. Springer New York, p 234. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-6247-8_3821

    Google Scholar 

  • Gooch JW (2011) Yellowing. In: Gooch JW (ed) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Polymers, 2nd edn. Springer New York, p 821. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-6247-8_12958

    Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, The Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Sonal Gupta

Authors
  1. Sonal Gupta
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Correspondence to Sonal Gupta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Gupta, S. (2014). Pancreatitis. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_7056-10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_7056-10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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