Pancreatic cancer?

Question

A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He is 31 years old. Durring a scan, they found a 3 centimeter spot on the tail end. Does anyone know what his odds are, I guess i am just looking for an idea of what he is up against. he is going to the Mayo clinic for a byopsy and if it is positive they will remove his spleen and lymphnoids. Will he have to go through with Cemotherapy regardless?

it was found in the early stages

Answer 1

a great website to visit is www.acscsn.org There you and your friend can read about real stories from real people, and there is also a chat room that you can talk to real people about this cancer. It was a great help to me. I had Pancreatic Cancer, diagnosed 12/04, and I am cancer free as we speak, and I decided to NOT have chemo or radiation. I read the statistics and it said dead in a year for 60% so I decided I didn't want to waste two months on chemo. I had what is called a Whipple operation, they took the head of my pancreas, part of my liver, my entire gallbladder, six inches of my intestine, did 14 biopsies on sourrounding areas while they were in there. I lost 30 pounds right away, and the operation was the worst thing, I thought I would rather be dead, but I surivived the two months of recovering from surgery. A GOOD ATTITUDE AND A WILL TO LIVE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO HAVE. and I know you may not want to know this but God is there, and just have faith that he does not want your friend dead just yet because he still is needed for some reason on earth. More power to you. The statistics cannot tell you a damn thing, pay attention to what your body tells you.

Answer 2

unfotunatley, overall pancreatic cancer has low survival rates becuase by the time someone ahs symptoms, goes to the doctor and has tests the cancer is often quite advanced. many people diagnosed are told they have less than a year to survive but there is not enough research to know exactly what the rates are. Depending on the stage of the cancer is the prognosis for time, dont know what stage of cancer your friend has so heres all of the stages
early stages- even for early stages prgnosis is not good of 100 people with pancreatic cancer only 15 are alive 5 years after diagnosis,
with people with advanced stages only 1 in 100 diagnosed will be alive 5 years later
besides from the stage of cancer, overall health and the greade of the cancer also matters
but remember your friend could be part of the few that survive, so be hopefull for him, optimistic people have more sucsessful battles with their cancer and disease
not sure if he will need chemo, depends on number of cancer cells left after surgery. Hope everything works out for him

Answer 3

I have pancreatic cancer and am currently going through chemo. It's not a walk in the park at all. thankfully for him it is in the tail of the pancreas! Much more serious if they find it in the head of the pancreas--I'm sure that they have told him that!! They will probably end up removing the tail of the pancreas. Not a lot of fun, BUT again, MUCH better than the head of the pancreas! They may also attempt radiation prior to making a decision about removing anything. Not sure why they are removing his spleen though. He want to discuss this with his oncologist. Normally they only remove things directly effected by the cancer cells.

Best of luck to him!!!

Answer 4

My husband passed away last year of pancreatic cancer. But his was a rare form and they didn't have many statistics on his. They did find it in three surrounding lymph nodes. After he healed from the surgery he went through chemotherapy and radiation. He later had scar tissue that he had to have removed along with three hernias. He kept trying to work though. Maybe that was the cause of the hernias. He had problems with ascites and kept having to get the fluid drained. Once they drained six liters off his abdomen. He went through numerous tests even after his surgery from blood tests to CAT scans. During the chemotherapy and radiation my husband started losing his appetite and he did lose a little hair but even that didn't start until probably six months after his treatments. But he went through alot and he battled it for two years from the time he was diagnosed. My husband had part of his pancreas, his gall bladder, and six inches of his small intestines removed. The surgery is very invasive and I would say painful. They cut my husband above his belly button and down to his waistline and used staples to close the incision. During his healing time the incision would leak fluid and we kept having to change the bandages. But your friend will need lots of help after the surgery. It's really hard to get up and down. And the medications make you drowsy. I don't want to discourage you because my husband did start getting cirrohsis of the liver too. He drank alot in his younger days and he died at 61. Just be prepared to be there for your friend he will need lots of help through his battle. And lots of comfort and support. Most of the things I found on the internet about pancreatic cancer give a life expectancy of five years. But I wouldn't go by that some websites that have survivors stories that have survived for ten years. All I can say is good luck with your friend. I wish him the best.

Answer 5

Any cancers if caught early enough are curable. Although the mortality rate for pancreatic cancers is higher than average, I personally know of someone who has survived it. As far as what treatment your friend will have, that's up to his doctors. They will most likely use either chemo or radiation or both, to make sure all the cancer cells are gone after his surgery. He has a tough fight ahead of him, but hopefully he will make it. I wish him the best of luck.

Answer 6

Unfortunately pancreatic cancer is associated with a high rate of mortality. This is due to the fact that it's not usually found until it's well advanced, due to the location in the abdomen.
Depending on how advanced his disease is, his odds are very good to terrible. And yes, he will have to have chemotherapy regardless, especially if any of his lymph nodes are positive. This will reduce the risk of it spreading to other organs like the liver, intestines and stomach.
Good luck to your friend, and no matter what the outcome, don't be afraid to talk to and support him in whatever he decides to do.

Answer 7

It's a very serious place to have cancer. Hopefully he has a good doctor. I would say at that age they will treat it very aggressively, but it really depends on the size & location.