Does anyone know what causes Pancreatic cancer? And why does it move so quick?

Answer 1

No one knows the exact cause of pancreatic cancer, but as others have mentioned, alcohol and heridity are factors.

My mother died of it 2 years ago. Throughout her life, she has bouts of acute pancreatitis - yet she was not a drinker. We were able to identify certan types of food which would occasionally trigger another episode of acute pancreatitis.

As for her cancer, the period from diagnosis to death was under two months. Like many cases, it was initially diagnosed as another bout of acute pancreatitis. It was when she began to jaundice that they came to realize it was pancreatic cancer.

As for growth rate, it is similar to colon and liver cancers. The late diagnosis, metastises, and impact on other organs essential for life (liver, bile ducts, kidney) create a situation where much of the body begins to shut down. Pallative treatments bring some releif, but even they have limits.

My heart goes out to you if you or your loved one has been diagnosed with this cancer.

Answer 2

While the exact cause of pancreatic cancer is not known, there is a strong association of this disease with both chronic alcohol consumption and alcoholism. Alcohol attacks the pancreas, along with your nervous system and liver, producing pancreatitis. It's thought that prolonged chronic pancreatitis sets up an inflammatory response that predisposes towards carcinoma.

Pancreatic cancer doesn't spread any faster than any other digestive organ carcinoma, but as its symptoms mimic pancreatitis, it's ofen misdiagnosed until it's too late. It has a high mortality because of frequent misdiagnosis.

Answer 3

Everytime I've had a patient with pancreatic cancer, alcohol has been involved so it's often a big factor. We don't really understand why it is intrinsically aggressive but it could be due to a family of proteins involved in controlling cell movement.

Answer 4

Even the doctors and researchers don't know the answer to that. There was an article (one of many) that said more than three cups of coffee a day increased the chance that you would get Pancreatic cancer but that is just anecdotal.

Answer 5

in case you would be able to desire to respond to the question "What reasons maximum cancers?" you may win all forms of scientific awards and alter into an exceedingly, VERY magnate - and nicely enjoyed and respected, too! regrettably, it fairly is not wide-unfold what reasons maximum cancers. besides the undeniable fact that, severe eating can injury the liver and additionally deliver approximately pancreatitis (besides as different issues, besides).

Answer 6

The WHO says 30% of cancers could be avoided with diet alone here - http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/cancer/en/ . They say Tobacco use is the number one cause for cancer. The WHO says here http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/cancer/01_en.html that cancer is one disease, but there's more than 100 types. They don't specifically mention pancreatic cancer, and it's not even listed in the top 5 common cancers for either men or women. But again, cancer is just one disease, caused by known influences. Avoid those risks, and you avoid getting cancer.

T. Colin Campbell in his book The China Study says cancer and disease begins with 3 things: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Guyton & Hall's "Textbook of Medical Physiology" eleventh edition is used in most mainstream medical curriculums. They say on page 41, starting with the second paragraph - "Only a minute fraction of the cells that mutate in the body ever lead to cancer. There are several reasons for this. First, most mutated cells have less survival capability and simply die. Second, only a few of the mutated cells that do survive become cancerous, because even most mutated cells still have normal feedback controls that prevent excessive growth.

Third, those cells that are potentially cancerous are often, if not usually, destroyed by the body's immune system before they grow into cancer. This occurs in the following way: Most mutated cells form abnormal proteins within their cell bodies because of their altered genes, and these proteins activate the body's immune system, causing it to form antibodies or sensitized lymphocytes that react against the cancerous cells, destroying them. In support of this is the fact that in people whose immune systems have been suppressed, such as those taking immunosuppressant drugs after kidney or heart transplantation, the probability of a cancer's developing is multiplied as much as fivefold."

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0091-6765%28198202%2943%3C21%3ACI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage states that "Chemotherapeutic agents are widely used in clinical medicine for the treatment of conditions where diminution of the host immune response is a goal." This page also says "The use of immunosuppressive drugs in clinical medicine is necessary to diminish the immune response to a point where responses to undesirable foreign antigens are elminated." Since we know that chemo and radiation literally destory the immune system, they raise the risk of getting cancer by five times.

Guyton and Hall also say on page 41 - "probabability of mutations can be increased manyfold when a person is exposed to certain chemical, physical, or biological factors, including the following:
1. It is well known that ionizing radiation, such as x-rays, gamma rays, and particle radiation from radiocative substances, and even ultraviolet light can predispose individuals to cancer. Ions formed in tussue cells under the influence of such radiation are highly reactive and can rupture DNA strands, thus causing many mutations.
2. Chemical substances of certain types also have a high propensity for causing mutations. It was discovered long ago that various aniline dye deritatives are likely to cause cancer, so that workers in chemical plants producing such substances, if unprotected, have a special predisposition to cancer. Chemical substances that can cause mutation are called carcinogens. That carcinogens that currently cause the greatest number of deaths are those in cigarette smoke. They cause about one quarter of all cancer deaths.
3. Physical irritants also can lead to cancer, such as continued abrasion of the linings of the intestinal tract by some types of food. The damage to the tissues leads to rapid mitotic replacement of the cells. The more rapid the mitosis, the greater the chance for mutation.
4. In many families, there is a strong hereditary tendency to cancer. This results from the fact that most cancers require not one mutation but two or more mutations before cancer occurs. In those families that are particularly predisposed to cancer, it is presumed that one or more cancerous genes are already mutated in the inherited genome. Therefore, far fewer additional mutations must take place in such family members before a cancer begins to grow.
5. In laboratory animals, certain types of viruses can cause some kinds of cancer, including leukemia. This usually results in one of two ways. In the case of DNA viruses, the DNA strand of the virus can insert itself directly into one of the chromosomes and thereby cause a mutation that leads to cancer. In the case of RNA viruses, some of these carry with them an enzyme called reverse transcriptase that causes DNA to be transcribed from the RNA. The transcribed DNA then inserts itself into the animal cell genome, leading to cancer."