Symptoms of pancreatic cancer

The pancreas is a large gland that is part of the digestive system.
In the early stages of cancer, a tumour in the pancreas doesn't usually cause any symptoms, which can make it difficult to diagnose.

Some people in the early stages of the disease can experience abdominal pain, changes of bowel habits, nausea and vomiting, jaundice, diabetes, back pain and weight loss.

Survival rates for pancreatic cancer remain low, with most patients given months rather than years to live,” said Dr Francesco Cellini, radiation oncologist.

The study retrospectively analysed 514 patients from Europe and the US diagnosed when their tumours had not spread and could be removed by surgery.

Following surgery, all the patients had been treated with chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy and followed up for an average of 20 months.

For patients with early stage tumours, standard treatment is surgery followed by chemotherapy, sometimes with radiotherapy.

For later-stage disease, patients are treated with chemotherapy, which may be combined with palliative radiotherapy as their disease progresses.