Listening to Cancer That Suffered by Steve Jobs And The Prevention

One of the founders of Apple Inc, Steve Jobs has died after battling pancreatic cancer since 2004. Just how great a life expectancy of pancreatic cancer patients?

"Very little chance of his life, because it is usually found after the cancer in an advanced stage, so little chance of his life," said Dr. Drajat Ryanto Suardi, SpB (K) Onk detikHealth when contacted on Thursday (10/06/2011).

Dr. Drajat said this is because the location of the pancreas is an organ located in the stomach making it difficult to do early detection (early detection). If the cancer is still in an early stage then it will not appear symptoms, but if the cancer is already large and pressing the pancreatic lymph channels emerging pain.

"But sometimes the pain is often regarded as stomach pain because it was close, so people often think it's an ulcer or gastritis," said the doctor who served as Chairman of the Oncology Society of Indonesia.

Until now the cause of pancreatic cancer is not known with certainty and is still in the stage of conjecture. But there are theories that say that genetic factors play a role although not a major factor, as well as an imbalance in cell growth factor.

Pancreatic cancer usually begins in the pancreatic tissue that lies horizontally on the back of the lower abdomen. This organ serves secretes enzymes that help digestion and the hormone insulin to regulate sugar metabolism.

This cancer can spread quickly and are rarely detected at an early stage, so it often becomes a major cause of cancer death. Besides the signs and symptoms of this cancer is most likely not appear until the cancer is large enough and surgery to his appointment has also been difficult.

"If you often experience heartburn symptoms are intermittent, often we are led there. To diagnose it is usually performed as well as endoscopic ultrasound," said the doctor, who also serves as Chairman of the Community Palliative Indonesia.

As for treatment depends on the stage, location of the cancer, patient's age and overall health. If possible the treatment of pancreatic cancer through surgery, but if not possible then the treatment is done to prevent pancreatic cancer continues to grow and spread to other areas

"Prevention is difficult, but the most important is a healthy lifestyle, it's the same as primary prevention for other types of cancer," said Dr. Drajat.

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