Pancreatic Tumors

Malignant Pancreatic Tumors

Malignant pancreatic tumors are tumors that have become, or always were, cancerous. Cancer appears in many locations beside the pancreas, but no matter where it grows it follows the same pattern. It appears when the DNA of normally healthy cells is changed by radiation, tobacco, pollutants, viruses, or a number of other causes. It can start with many or few cells, which rapidly divide to form tumors or growths. Uncontrollable cell division is a hallmark of cancer. After the cancer reaches a certain size, some of its cells break of and spread through the body through the lymph system (it houses immune system cell and returns excess fluid to the blood stream) and/or the blood stream. Eventually the cells lodge and grow in other organs. This is called metastasis. The cancer can also directly grow into neighboring cells, structures, and organs in a process aptly called invasion.

Cancer can appear in anyone at any age, but malignant pancreatic tumors usually confine themselves to people 60 to 80 years of age, though a few rare types affect younger people. The cancer tumor affecting about 90 to 95 percent of people with pancreatic cancer or tumors is called an adenocarcinoma. Adeno- refers to gland, for the pancreas is a gland, carcin- means cancer, and -oma means tumor or growth.

Adenocarcinomas occur on the surface layer of the pancreas called the epithelium. They can grow on the head, body, or tail of the pancreas. If it is on the head it has a better prognosis, because it is usually discovered early. It causes symptoms such as abdominal pain, jaundice, weight loss, and loss of appetite, which usually lead people to visit a doctor. But if the malignant tumor appears on the body or tail, signs usually don not appear until after the cancer is in a late stage.

The other 5 to 10 percent of people with pancreatic tumors have exocrine, acinar cell, or neuroendocrine (also called endocrine) tumors. Of these, neuroendocrine are the tumors that are most common and the most likely to become malignant.

The neuroendocrine that is malignant more than 95 percent of the time is the ACTHoma. It is found only in the pancreas. Called a functional tumor, an ACTHoma secretes the hormone for which it is named: adrenocorticotropic hormone. The hormone prods the adrenal cortex to create cortisol. Cortisol is a corticosteroid hormone that is produced when the body experiences stress. It increases blood pressure and blood sugar, and it supresses the immune system.

Another malignant pancreatic tumor occurring in the neuroendocrine category is the gastrinoma, with 60 to 90 percent becoming malignant. It secretes the hormone gastrin, thus gastrinomas are functional tumors. Gastrin makes the stomach produce gastric acid, which breaks down food. With gastrin's over-secretion comesa Zollinger-Ellison syndromes. It is characterized by gastric hyperacidity (related to heartburn), peptic ulcer occurrence, and symptoms related to the pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.

Other pancreas neuroendocrine tumors in order of malignancy are glucagonomas (50-80 percent are malignant), somatostatinomas (70%), VIPomas (40-70%), PPomas (>60%), GNRHomas (60%), and insulinomas (<10%).

Malignant pancreatic tumors kill more than 29,000 of the 30,300 or more pancreatic cancer sufferers every year. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. and Canada. One of the only chances for surviving it is early detection, so if you experience the above symptoms, see your doctor.