What are the common early symptoms of pancreatic cancer

What are the common early symptoms of pancreatic cancer?

Early symptoms of pancreatic cancer include abdominal pain, jaundice, weight loss, gastrointestinal symptoms, and vascular symptoms.

1. Abdominal pain

Pancreatic cancer patients may experience abdominal pain in the early stages, which is more common in the upper and middle abdomen, followed by the left hypochondrium. In the later stages of the disease, there may be radiating pain in the lower back and back. Cancer of the head of the pancreas tends to radiate to the right side of the lower back, while cancer of the body and tail of the pancreas can radiate to the left side of the lower back and back. The pain symptoms worsen when the patient lies on his back or stretches his spine, and are relieved when he bends forward to sit or lies on his side with his knees bent. In particular, when the tumor compresses or infiltrates the retroperitoneal plexus, it can cause severe, persistent low back pain in patients.

2. Jaundice

Jaundice is the most prominent manifestation of pancreatic head cancer, accompanied by abdominal pain. Some patients may experience painless jaundice, which is mostly caused by compression or infiltration of the common bile duct by pancreatic head cancer, and sometimes by enlargement of intrahepatic, hilar and common bile duct lymph nodes.

3. Weight loss

Pancreatic cancer patients experience significant weight loss in the short term before developing jaundice, and develop cachexia in the late stages.

4. Digestive tract symptoms

As the disease progresses, pancreatic cancer patients may develop gastrointestinal symptoms of varying degrees, mainly manifested as loss of appetite, indigestion, and steatorrhea.

Pancreatic cancer should be treated immediately after it occurs, and surgical resection should be the main option. For patients who cannot undergo surgery, palliative short-circuit surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy can be considered.