Pancreatic cancer is fortunately uncommon, yet is among the top 10 cancers causing death worldwide, in the UK and the Philippines.


The pancreas produces insulin and digestive enzymes. Problems with cancer of this site are :- NO early symptoms, then symptoms which may also have other causes ( back pain, unexpected weight loss, jaundice ).


Risk factors include increasing age, smoking, and other illnesses such as diabetes and inflammation of the pancreas ( perhaps alcohol-related ) - but ONLY a small proportion develop this cancer.


NOT all pancreatic tumours have the same outlook. Some are benign ( not cancer ). There’s a spectrum of cancers from " low grade " to " aggressive ". Steve Jobs ( late Chief Executive of Apple ) survived 7 years after diagnosis of " islet cell / neuroendocrine " carcinoma of pancreas.


Surgery is usually the only cure for this cancer, but is suitable for less than 15% of patients.


The " major win in the pancreatic cancer fight " was a trial involving patients who first had surgery. They were then given either the standard chemotherapy drug alone, or combined with another drug.

Problems with chemotherapy drugs are that they not only have anti-cancer activity but also attack other rapidly dividing cells.


Long term ( 5 years ) survival was found to improve - in this trial - from 16% to 29%. Good news, but average 5 years survival is nearer 5% for all pancreatic cancers.


The way forward with this and other cancers is personalised treatment for EACH patient . Whatever the risk factors ( smoking, poor diet, obesity, alcohol excess, environmental pollution, radiation, infections, occupation ) ALL cancers result from mutation of genes. There’s an element of luck in who develops cancer.


In future, drugs will TARGET each patient’s cancer AFTER genetic testing - either from a tissue sample / biopsy, as now, or a blood sample. This already happens for certain cancers such as arise in breast or skin. Resources need to be found for more / all patients to benefit.