Cancer of the Pancreas

Cancer of the pancreas is a common disorder, being the 4th most common cancer in the UK. How it presents depends on where it is - if it affects the tail of the pancreas then there may just be nausea and weight loss, if it affects the body of the pancreas there may be pain going through to the back, while if it affects the head of the pancreas it may cause painless obstructive jaundice (as opposed to the obstructive jaundice caused by a gall stone blocking the biliary tract and causing biliary colic, which is very painful). There maybe associated disorders of blood clotting, classically causing thrombosis in the small veins of the abdomen - a condition called thrombophlebitis migrans. As with so many others the cause of cancer of the pancreas is unknown, but it is thought to be associated with cigarette smoking and high alcohol consumption. While treatment using surgery may be necessary to relieve obstructive jaundice it is rarely curative.
 
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