About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
It's not clear what causes pancreatic cancer.
Understanding your pancreas
Your pancreas is about 6 inches (15 centimeters) long and looks something like a pear lying on its side. The pancreas is a crucial part of your digestive system. It secretes hormones, including insulin, to help your body process sugar. And it produces digestive juices to help your body digest food.
How pancreatic cancer forms
Pancreatic cancer occurs when cells in your pancreas develop genetic mutations. These mutations cause the cells to grow uncontrollably and to continue living after normal cells would die. These accumulating cells can form a tumor.
Types of pancreatic cancer
The types of cells involved in a pancreatic cancer help determine the best treatment. Types of pancreatic cancer include:
- Cancer that forms in the pancreas ducts (adenocarcinoma). Cells that line the ducts of the pancreas help produce digestive juices. The majority of pancreatic cancers are adenocarcinomas. Sometimes these cancers are called exocrine tumors.
- Cancer that forms in the hormone-producing cells. Cancer that forms in the hormone-producing cells of the pancreas is called endocrine cancer. Endocrine cancers of the pancreas are very rare.
- What you need to know about cancer of the pancreas. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/pancreas/allpages. Accessed Feb. 17, 2010.
- Pancreatic cancer treatment (PDQ): Health professional version. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/pancreatic/healthprofessional/allpages. Accessed Feb. 17, 2010.
- Drebin JA, et al. Carcinoma of the pancreas. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:1595.
- Freitas D, et al. Medical management of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Pancreatology. 2009;9:223.
- Pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/pancreatic.pdf. Accessed Feb. 17, 2010.
- Locker GY, et al. ASCO 2006 update of recommendations for the use of tumor markers in gastrointestinal cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2006;24:5313.
- Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. About your Whipple operation. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2006:17.
- Tarceva (prescribing information). Melville, N.Y.: OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc.; 2009. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2009/021743s015lbl.pdf. Accessed Feb. 23, 2010.
- Pliarchopoulou K, et al. Pancreatic cancer: Current and future treatment strategies. Cancer Treatment Reviews. 2009;35:431.
- Clark KL, et al. Psychological distress in patients with pancreatic cancer - An understudied group. Psycho-Oncology. In press. Accessed Feb. 23, 2010.
- Distress management. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/distress.pdf. Accessed Feb. 23, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on