Guide To Understanding Pancreatic Cancer Stages

The pancreas, an organ in the upper abdomen, is responsible for producing and secreting certain hormones and digestive enzymes. Pancreatic cancer hat develops in the cells responsible for the digestive enzymes is called exocrine pancreatic cancer. It includes adenocarcinomas, acinar cell carcinoma, ampullary cancer, adenosquamous carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and giant cell carcinomas. Pancreatic cancer that develops in the cells responsible for hormones is called endocrine pancreatic cancer. It includes insulinomas, glucagonomas, gastrinomas, somatostatinomas, and VIPomas. Blood, urine, and stool tests may be used to help make a pancreatic cancer diagnosis along with endoscopic ultrasound, CT scans, MRI scans, PET scans, x-rays, an angiogram, and a tissue biopsy.

Thankfully, patients have several options for pancreatic cancer treatment. A major option is surgery for pancreatic cancer. Surgery may remove part of the pancreas or the entire organ. Patients who get pancreas removal surgery need insulin and enzyme replacement to compensate. Of course, patients can also benefit from radiation and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Ultimately, however, the best treatment for pancreatic cancer varies based on the stage. Learn about the stages of this cancer now.

Stage 0

Stage 0 pancreatic cancer and carcinoma in situ are terms used to describe abnormal cells contained within the pancreatic lining. Some doctors will refer to these abnormal cells as precancerous cells. The precancerous cells are strictly isolated to the surface layer cells of the pancreatic ducts. Most diagnostic imaging tests like x-ray, computerized tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) scans cannot detect stage 0 pancreatic cancer.

During surgery, stage 0 pancreatic cancer is often unable to be seen and identified by the naked eye. The stage grouping used to refer to stage 0 pancreatic cancer is Tis, N0, and M0. These stages mean the cancer has not spread to any nearby lymph nodes or distant regions of the body. Stage 0 is often excluded from the pancreatic malignancy category and can only be detected during a microscopic biopsy of the pancreatic duct cells.