Pancreatic Cancer Screening
Pancreatic cancer screening is used to find pancreatic tumors. But, finding pancreatic cancer before it grows beyond the early stages is a difficult endeavor. This is due in large part to the fact that tumor's symptoms, if they appear at all, don't surface until the cancer is already firmly established and has spread, or metastasized, to nearby organs.
Pancreatic cancer spreads rapidly and causes death in most people 5 to 12 months after diagnosis. Thus much research focuses on developing reliable tests that can detect the cancer early. If a doctor suspects pancreatic cancer has developed, he or she will order one or more tests to confirm his suspicions.
A common test for pancreas tumors is ultrasound imaging. A device called a transducer that emits high-frequency sound waves is run over the abdomen. Like sonar or radar, the sound waves bounce off organs and are received by the transducer. A computer translates the data into images. The test lasts about an hour.
Computerized tomography or CT scanning is a test that doctors use to create images of organs. The scan uses X-ray beams to create pictures, which are displayed in slices. Often dye called contrast medium is injected for the test. It produces images with more contrast and clarity. This way they can more easily identify pancreatic tumors. A downside to the scan is CT that it uses more radiation than X-rays. A pancreatic cancer screening test called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a magnetic field and radio waves, not X-rays, to form images. It uses a large tube into which technicians slide the patient. A massive magnet rotates about the outside of the tube. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatiography (ERCP) is procedure that uses a flexible tube called an endoscope. Doctors feed the tube down the patient's throat while the patient is sedated. Air is introduced into intestines to give a better picture of the internal structures and growths. When the endoscope reaches the small intestine's upper section, the doctor guides it into the bile duct. A dye injected via catheter into the duct tests for obstructions. X-rays are also taken. Another test using an endoscope is the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). But with it the scope only enters the stomach. Here it uses sound waves aimed at the pancreas to create images. A pancreatic cancer screening method similar to the endoscopic tests is the laparoscopy. It uses a tube with a camera attached (the laparoscope). Doctors make a cut in the abdomen and insert the laparoscope. They look for growths and can even take tissue samples. Another test involving tissue samples is the biopsy. Here doctors take bits of tissue and examine them under a microscope for any cancerous cells. This is the most effective way of diagnosing pancreatic cancer. Doctors may use a needle to take samples in a fine-needle aspiration (FNA). CT or ultrasound images direct the needle. A similar test performed with a needle is percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC). Here the needle is inserted into the liver. Dye injected into the liver runs through bile ducts and a X-ray called a fluoroscope tracks the path. Doctors take X-rays at different angles for best results. Unfortunately, these tests only detect pancreatic cancer after it has developed enough to produce symptoms. By this time it may already be too late to effectively treat the cancer. Still, pancreatic cancer screening is very important and may increase survival time by catching the tumor early.
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