Living With Pancreatic Cancer July 9
Yesterday, we did a feature on pancreatic cancer, its symptoms and method for diagnosis. Today, we share with you the options that patients who develop pancreatic cancer may take, and what these patients can do to deal with the disease.
We mentioned in our previous post how challenging it is for doctors to detect the cancer early, due to the fact that patients normally do not exhibit or feel the symptoms until after some time. For patients whose cancer is still confined to the pancreas, surgery is still an option; the downside is that it is rare for pancreatic cancer to be diagnosed at this stage. If the cancer has not spread beyond the pancreas, surgery can result in a cure. If not, it may serve as a way to relieve some of the symptoms of the disease and prevent problems with respect to the size of the cancerous mass.
Pancreatic cancer sufferers may undergo radiation therapy to kill and shrink cancer cells. It is administered five days a week over the course of several weeks or even months. The objective for this schedule is to spread out the total dose of radiation in order to protect normal tissue. Studies are also being conducted towards using radiation therapy to kill cancer cells that may remain after the patient has undergone surgery. This treatment is also a way to help relieve the pain and digestive problems that patients suffer through as a result of the disease.
Chemotherapy, as in other forms of cancer, is also a way to treat pancreatic cancer. This therapy makes use of drugs that stop cancer cells from growing and spreading. The course of treatment may consist of a single drug or a cocktail of various drugs, administered either orally or intravenously into a muscle or vein. It is usually the treatment option for patients whose cancer has already spread.
Tags: pancreatic cancer, pancreatic cancer early detection