Pancreatic cancer is less common form of cancer. Patients rarely feel any symptoms in the early stages. Usually, only after the cancer cells spread to other organs, it gets detected. A patient who has pancreatic cancer in later stages may experience the following symptoms.

• Nausea and vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Burning sensation in the stomach
• Unexplained weight loss
• Inability to digest fats
• Spreads to bile duct: jaundice when the tumor obstructs the common bile duct
• Gallbladder enlargement
• Type 2 diabetes

Above said symptoms could be due to other medical reasons too. Hence it is recommended people experiencing any of the above symptoms consult their doctor to rule out possibilities.

• Through the diagnostic procedure, the doctor can examine the extent of metastasis and the tumor size.
• Assessment of Medical History
• Physical Examination of affected areas
• Blood Tests
• Diagnostic Imaging tests

• Surgery: The oncologist may recommend surgery and removal of the complete organ, gland, or tissues if cancer has spread.
• Pancreatoduodenectomy: In this procedure, the surgeon removes the head of the pancreas, bile duct, surrounding lymph nodes, small intestine, gallbladder, and part of the stomach, depending on the extent of spread.
• Distal Pancreatectomy: The surgeon will remove a part of the pancreas if the cancerous tumor is localized in the tail of the pancreas.
• Total Pancreatectomy: This procedure also involves the removal of the entire pancreas, performed when the tumor has spread.
• Central Pancreatectomy: In this procedure, the middle part of the pancreas is removed, and the remaining part of the organ is attached to the stomach or small intestine to assist in digestion.
• Minimally Invasive Procedures: Patients for whom a full surgery is not required, a less invasive technique such as laparoscopy is performed to remove cancer.
• Chemotherapy: Anti-cancer drugs are targeted towards the affected area.