Best Doctor of Pancreatic Cancer

DIAGNOSIS OF PANCREATIC CANCER

WHAT IS PANCREATIC CANCER?

Pancreatic cancer begins in the tissues of your pancreas — an organ in your abdomen that lies behind the lower part of your stomach. Your pancreas releases enzymes that aid digestion and produce hormones that help manage your blood sugar.

Several types of growths can occur in the pancreas, including cancerous and noncancerous tumors. The most common type of cancer that forms in the pancreas begins in the cells that line the ducts that carry digestive enzymes out of the pancreas (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma).

Imaging tests that create pictures of your internal organs. Using a scope to create ultrasound pictures of your pancreas.

Removing a tissue sample for testing (biopsy). Blood test.

IMAGING TESTS THAT CREATE PICTURES OF YOUR INTERNAL ORGANS.

These tests help your doctors visualize your internal organs, including the pancreas.

Techniques used to diagnose pancreatic cancer include ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and, sometimes, positron emission tomography (PET) scans.

USING A SCOPE TO CREATE ULTRASOUND PICTURES OF YOUR PANCREAS.

An endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) uses an ultrasound device to make images of your pancreas from inside your abdomen. The device is passed through a thin, flexible tube (endoscope) down your esophagus and into your stomach in order to obtain the images.

REMOVING A TISSUE SAMPLE FOR TESTING (BIOPSY)

A biopsy is a procedure to remove a small tissue sample for examination under a microscope. The tissue is often collected during EUS by passing special tools through the endoscope. Less often, a tissue sample is collected from the pancreas by inserting a needle through your skin and into your pancreas (fine-needle aspiration).

BLOOD TEST

Your doctor may test your blood for specific proteins (tumor markers) shed by pancreatic cancer cells. One tumor marker test used in pancreatic cancer is called CA19-9. It may be helpful in understanding how the cancer responds to treatment. But the test isn't always reliable because some people with pancreatic cancer don't have elevated CA19-9 levels, making the test less helpful.