Traditional chemotherapies are often ineffective for pancreatic cancer
Despite tremendous advances in cancer treatment and survival rates, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most deadly afflictions and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The relative survival rate for those stricken remains at a discouraging 5.5 percent as of 2005, according to the National Cancer Institute. Relative survival rates are a representation of the number of those stricken still alive after five years relative to the general population. Complicating specialists' efforts is the cancer's ability to grow without producing symptoms in the victim until it is often too late.
Diagnosis
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include jaundice, weight-loss and abdominal pain, though these rarely present in the patient before the cancer is in the advanced stages. Body imaging--including x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET)--and a general physical exam and patient history are all tools used by physicians to locate and stage .
Treatment
Surgery is the most effective aid in combating pancreatic cancer, but survivability rates even for surgical candidates lag far behind those of patients with other cancers that are surgically resected. Early diagnosis is key to achieving higher survivability, but pancreatic cancers don't present outward symptoms until the tumor is well established, so getting the early diagnosis is often complicated. Both radiation and chemotherapy treatments are used, either in conjunction with or instead of surgery, but chemotherapies have proven less effective with pancreatic cancer than with other cancers.
Risk Factors
Pancreatic cancer is more prevalent in men than in women, with a higher incidence among African-Americans. A diet rich in saturated fats and cholesterol is believed to be an aggravating factor. Chronic pancreatitis is a leading indicator of future risk. Pancreatitis is linked to alcohol abuse, which, according to a study by Stephanie Smith-Warner at the Harvard Institute of Health, increases the risk of pancreatic cancer by 22 percent.
Alternative Therapies
The American Cancer Society has been reluctant to endorse alternative therapies, particularly with the shorter time line of pancreatic cancer, as the organization's position is that the time spent pursuing them could be better used in conventional treatment. ACS approves of the use of complementary therapies such as acupuncture for pain, meditation for stress and peppermint tea for nausea.
Future Possibilities
In 2010, researchers at the Mayo Clinic's Jacksonville branch began targeting an oncogene--a gene that, when mutated, helps turn healthy cells into cancer cells--called PKCi. Pancreatic cancer patients with high levels of the PKCi oncogene survived an average of just 492 days while those with low levels of PKCi survived an average of 681 days. Aurothiomalate, a drug used to target PKCi in arthritis sufferers, began phase-one clinical trials in 2010 in the hope that it could be a stand-alone treatment for pancreatic cancer or at least make current chemotherapies more effective.
Tags: pancreatic cancer, , levels PKCi, other cancers, patients with