JKKDARK
March 6th, 2008, 21:53
via Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/06/wswayze206.xml)
Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which is notoriously difficult to treat.
One of the reasons for the difficulty in treatment is that a sufferer may only experience symptoms very late. It sometimes only diagnosed in the late stages.
As a result, the survival rate is one of the lowest of all cancers and just 4.4 per cent of women and 4.2 per cent of men are still alive five years after the initial diagnosis.
The first signs of the illness vary depending on the size of the tumour and where on the pancreas it is located but often a person may experience pain in their back or lower abdomen.
This many become worse on eating and they may also suffer from nausea, vomiting and weight loss.
As the disease becomes more advanced, a person may get jaundice with their skin and whites of their eyes becoming yellow.
If caught early enough, the tumour can be removed by surgery and a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy can also reduce its size and control the pain for the patient.
Scientists have not yet identified the exact cause of pancreatic cancer but certain factors such as smoking, a fatty diet, increased alcohol consumption and diabetes are known to increase the risk.
Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which is notoriously difficult to treat.
One of the reasons for the difficulty in treatment is that a sufferer may only experience symptoms very late. It sometimes only diagnosed in the late stages.
As a result, the survival rate is one of the lowest of all cancers and just 4.4 per cent of women and 4.2 per cent of men are still alive five years after the initial diagnosis.
The first signs of the illness vary depending on the size of the tumour and where on the pancreas it is located but often a person may experience pain in their back or lower abdomen.
This many become worse on eating and they may also suffer from nausea, vomiting and weight loss.
As the disease becomes more advanced, a person may get jaundice with their skin and whites of their eyes becoming yellow.
If caught early enough, the tumour can be removed by surgery and a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy can also reduce its size and control the pain for the patient.
Scientists have not yet identified the exact cause of pancreatic cancer but certain factors such as smoking, a fatty diet, increased alcohol consumption and diabetes are known to increase the risk.