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A friend died a few years ago with pancreatic cancer. His grandfather and uncle both died with it and his father had lived in fear of it all his life, though he died of something else.
Everything I have heard is that with a family history, risk of PC is extremely high. Also, that by the time most people show any symptoms, it is too late for effective treatment. I asked the question then, why would a doctor not push such a person to have a screening every year and maybe find it before any symptoms showed. Several in med professions said "doctor would not think to check if a person had no symptoms". That made no sense to me at all. He may have had some chance with early diagnoses, would he not? Why would a guy like him not insist on a screening every year. I would.
There is no effective screening for pancreatic cancer. If there was, some pharmaceutical company would be making billions off of it. Recently, there was talk of a high school student who created a cost-effective test for early-stage pancreatic cancer. It's hard to get much solid info on the veracity of his claims because I haven't seen any of the studies on his product, but hopefully there will be a viable screening test in the near future.
The only real screening I could think of might be a yearly PET scan - but I believe the pancreas lights up anyway (high metabolic activity) and that would not only be incredibly expensive (tens of thousands of dollars a scan) but also subject a person to unnecessary radiation.
There is no effective screening for pancreatic cancer. If there was, some pharmaceutical company would be making billions off of it. Recently, there was talk of a high school student who created a cost-effective test for early-stage pancreatic cancer. It's hard to get much solid info on the veracity of his claims because I haven't seen any of the studies on his product, but hopefully there will be a viable screening test in the near future.
The only real screening I could think of might be a yearly PET scan - but I believe the pancreas lights up anyway (high metabolic activity) and that would not only be incredibly expensive (tens of thousands of dollars a scan) but also subject a person to unnecessary radiation.
MRIs also show if pancreatic cancer exists, but of course, not only are these tests expensive they are not something that are routinely done. If would be wonderful if there were diagostic tests for everything, but that is not realistic. someday these tests will be available and used routinely, now, we have to live with what we have.
A sad reality is that there is only so much screening that can be done and it gets cost-prohibitive or a negative impact on other areas of health to do all of the screenings even when they are available.
Take mammograms. SO important. But women get breast cancer in their 20s and 30s and are not routinely given mammograms. Why? Because the radiation and stress outweighs the few people who will find tumors. Some women with family history are able to start getting mammograms as early as 30 - but I know dozens of women who got breast cancer before they even hit that age.
The same is true of prostate cancer to some degree. There are arguments that discovering and treating a slow-growing prostate cancer in elderly men does more harm than good if the cancer itself is not causing them other problems. It's a hard decision to make. I think nmita spoke in another thread about doctors giving similar recommendations about colonoscopies after 75 or 80 - many just won't do them at all.
That's why in general, it's SO important to listen to your own body and to know your body. If something is "different", even if you can't put your finger on it, for more than 2 weeks, go to a doctor. Document it. It will 99% of the time be nothing, but you could catch the cancer yourself. In my case, I knew something was wrong for years, but because I didn't present typically for lymphoma with palpable lymph nodes, I was never checked. In fact, all of my cancerous lymph nodes up until the end were in my chest in areas where I would never feel them. I was young and didn't know how to advocate for myself them - and luckily that very scary lesson was learned with a cancer that is very treatable and even curable in even Stage IV. But had I advocated more strongly for myself 3 or 4 years before diagnosis, my treatment would have been shorter and my relapse chance would be lower.
Moral of the story, get screened when you and and with what is reasonable: colonoscopies, mammograms, yearly skin exams by dermatologists, and pap exams. Beyond that, do monthly self exams - breasts and testes of course, but also just take a good look at your whole body. Know where your lumpy bits are, where your moles are, what your moles looks like. Feel up deep in your armpits to see if there are any swollen lymph nodes there. Take note of any long term unexplained coughs, stomach aches, fatigue, bloating, or unintentional weight loss or gain. Most importantly, find a doctor that you can get to know and trust so if something weird IS going on, you feel totally comfortable talking about your poop or the hairy mole on your back that you try to hide.
And honestly? Knowing your body and knowing how to advocate for yourself might save more lives than the standard screenings anyway.
No insurance company is going to pay for pre-screening of pancreatic cancer or even lung cancer. Lung cancer is the #1 leading cause of cancer deaths in the US and the world, and can be detected early. However, no one is going to pay for the radio work that needs to be done because it is just too cost prohibitive. Cancers can be notoriously difficult to detect, and even the current best imaging modalities have many false positives leading to surgeries being performed that don't need to be done.
I know two people who died from pancreatic cancer. Both were diagnosed during stage IV and died within 1 year. What I noticed was that for several years before the diagnoses came they both complained about digestive problems. Both would complain about nausea, vomiting, and heartburn (stomach pains...bloating etc) that wasn't relived by over the counter or prescription medications. One friend was diagnosed after her ob/gyn felt the tumor during the pelvic exam and sent her for follow up. The other one just started losing weight and got very sick. Of course for the both of them it was too late. I don't think they could have done anything differently but I think if I had those issues I would insist on an MRI even if I had to pay for it myself. It's a very expensive test to have...cost about 2k but knowing what I know now I would find the money to pay if I had those symptoms and they lasted for longer than a few months without relief. Both of them developed those issues 4-5 years before the diagnoses came. Maybe if they had some sort of scan at that point they would have been diagnosed stage I or II...maybe surgery would have worked or maybe they would have lived a little longer...who knows?
Few months ago my cardiologist send me for a pancreas ultrasound after he saw something on his portable ultrasound. So I went to a radiologist who did my pancreas ultrasound called in some other dr who also redid the whole test and he then call in dr nr 3 who also went to look amongst themselves they were discussing something. I seem to have pancreatic cysts. When I went back to my cardiologist who was then in the middle of going with early retirement he sort of evaded my question not his usual he is always very pragmatic. Anyway next month in april I get to see my new cardiologist. Heart failure also gives digestion issues like pancreas issues.
I have a very much older sibling who had pancreas removed during emergency surgery years ago.
A sad reality is that there is only so much screening that can be done and it gets cost-prohibitive or a negative impact on other areas of health to do all of the screenings even when they are available.
Take mammograms. SO important. But women get breast cancer in their 20s and 30s and are not routinely given mammograms. Why? Because the radiation and stress outweighs the few people who will find tumors. Some women with family history are able to start getting mammograms as early as 30 - but I know dozens of women who got breast cancer before they even hit that age.
That's why in general, it's SO important to listen to your own body and to know your body. If something is "different", even if you can't put your finger on it, for more than 2 weeks, go to a doctor. Document it. It will 99% of the time be nothing, but you could catch the cancer yourself. In my case, I knew something was wrong for years, but because I didn't present typically for lymphoma with palpable lymph nodes, I was never checked. In fact, all of my cancerous lymph nodes up until the end were in my chest in areas where I would never feel them. I was young and didn't know how to advocate for myself them - and luckily that very scary lesson was learned with a cancer that is very treatable and even curable in even Stage IV. But had I advocated more strongly for myself 3 or 4 years before diagnosis, my treatment would have been shorter and my relapse chance would be lower.
Moral of the story, get screened when you and and with what is reasonable: colonoscopies, mammograms, yearly skin exams by dermatologists, and pap exams. Beyond that, do monthly self exams - breasts and testes of course, but also just take a good look at your whole body. Know where your lumpy bits are, where your moles are, what your moles looks like. Feel up deep in your armpits to see if there are any swollen lymph nodes there. Take note of any long term unexplained coughs, stomach aches, fatigue, bloating, or unintentional weight loss or gain. Most importantly, find a doctor that you can get to know and trust so if something weird IS going on, you feel totally comfortable talking about your poop or the hairy mole on your back that you try to hide.
And honestly? Knowing your body and knowing how to advocate for yourself might save more lives than the standard screenings anyway.
The problem with my dad was that he never went to a doctor in a long time. I know a lot of people who don't go to the doctors because they are scared or they don't want to go for some reason. When I went to the doctor last year, he told me that when I get older, I have to get checked for pancreatic cancer since my dad had it. My doctor said that if my dad would have went to the doctors earlier, he would have caught the cancer earlier than stage 4 and he might have been still living. Getting yearly checkups are good but sometimes they miss things. My aunt always go for a mammogram every year. 4 years ago, she had breast cancer. The mammogram didn't pick up any cancer cells. She beat it and is fine now.
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