How long can you live with pancreatic tumor

Pancreatic tumor is one of the more difficult to treat digestive system tumors. Its cause is relatively complex, the condition is severe after onset, and there are many symptoms. The treatment mainly focuses on prolonging life. Many patients are worried about whether pancreatic tumor will worsen and how long can they live with pancreatic tumor? Let's take a look together.

The topic of how long one can live with pancreatic tumors starts with treatment and complications. The treatment plan for any type of tumor is different, and the conditions after treatment are also different. Complications are very likely to occur after treatment of pancreatic tumors, which will greatly affect the life expectancy of pancreatic tumor patients.

Weight loss and fatigue. Pancreatic tumors are different from other cancers. Weight loss and fatigue often occur in the early stages. This symptom has nothing to do with the location of the tumor. Among digestive tract tumors, pancreatic tumors cause the most prominent weight loss. Significant weight loss occurs within a short period of time after onset. The weight loss can reach more than 30 pounds, accompanied by symptoms such as weakness and fatigue. Some patients experience progressive weight loss before other symptoms appear. The main reason for weight loss is loss of appetite, reduced food intake, or even if there is an appetite, they do not want to eat because of upper abdominal discomfort or abdominal pain after eating. In addition, there is a certain connection between poor excretion function of pancreatic tumors or obstruction of pancreatic juice outflow through malignant pancreatic ducts, which affects digestion and absorption functions.

Mental symptoms: some pancreatic tumor patients may experience mental symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, depression, personality changes, etc. The mechanism of occurrence is still unclear, but it may be because pancreatic tumor patients often have symptoms such as intractable abdominal pain, insomnia, and inability to eat, which can easily affect their spirit and mood.

Thrombophlebitis. Pancreatic tumor patients may present with migratory thrombophlebitis or arterial thrombosis. If there is deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities, it may cause edema of the affected lower extremities. Autopsy data show that the incidence of arterial and venous thrombosis is about 25%, which seems to be more common in pancreatic body and tail cancer. Cancer can secrete certain substances that promote thrombosis. For example, portal vein thrombosis can cause varicose veins or ascites at the lower end of the esophagus, and splenic vein thrombosis can cause splenomegaly. These patients are prone to acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

In addition, patients often complain of fever and obvious fatigue. There may be high fever and even chills, which are similar to symptoms of cholangitis, so it is easy to be confused with cholelithiasis and cholangitis. Of course, when there is bile duct obstruction and infection, there may also be chills and high fever. Some patients may also have redness, swelling, pain, heat in small joints, subcutaneous fat necrosis around joints, and testicular pain of unknown cause. The supraclavicular, axillary or inguinal lymph nodes may also swell and harden due to the spread of malignant pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic tumors are difficult to treat, but they are not without treatment. The causes of disease are different for each patient, and the symptoms are also different. Doctors will target treatment based on the patient's specific condition. The purpose of treatment is to prolong life and improve the quality of life of pancreatic tumor patients. During treatment, patients must also establish information and actively cooperate with doctors. Maintaining an optimistic attitude is also a key factor in recovery from the disease.