what is pancreatic cancer and what are the stages?

Q: what is pancreatic cancer and what are the stages?

In short Pancreatic cancer is a disease where abnormal cells form in the tissues of the pancreas [6]. The pancreas helps make digestive juices and hormones like insulin [6]. Doctors use stages I through IV to describe how far the cancer has spread [6]. The details Pancreatic cancer starts when cells in the pancreas grow out of control [6]. Most cases (about 95%) begin in exocrine cells that produce digestive juices [6]. Staging uses the TNM system to assign a stage from I to IV [6]. Stage 0 means abnormal cells are found in the lining of the pancreas but may not be cancer yet [6]. Stage I means the cancer is found only in the pancreas [6]. Stage IA tumors are 2 cm or smaller, while Stage IB tumors are larger than 2 cm but no more than 4 cm [6]. Stage II means the tumor is larger than 4 cm (Stage IIA) or has spread to 1 to 3 nearby lymph nodes (Stage IIB) [6]. Stage III means the cancer has spread to four or more nearby lymph nodes or to major blood vessels near the pancreas [6]. Stage IV, also called metastatic pancreatic cancer, means the tumor has spread to other parts of the body like the liver or lungs [6]. Doctors also group cancers as resectable (can be removed by surgery), borderline resectable (hard to remove completely), or locally advanced [6]. What to know Early pancreatic cancer often has no symptoms, which makes it hard to diagnose early [6]. The overall 5-year survival rate is about 12% [8]. Survival rates are much higher for localized disease (46%) than for distant disease (3%) [8]. Only a small number of patients (14%) are diagnosed at the localized stage [8].

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Accepted Answer

In short

Pancreatic cancer is a disease where abnormal cells form in the tissues of the pancreas [6]. The pancreas helps make digestive juices and hormones like insulin [6]. Doctors use stages I through IV to describe how far the cancer has spread [6].

The details

Pancreatic cancer starts when cells in the pancreas grow out of control [6]. Most cases (about 95%) begin in exocrine cells that produce digestive juices [6].

Staging uses the TNM system to assign a stage from I to IV [6].

Stage 0 means abnormal cells are found in the lining of the pancreas but may not be cancer yet [6].

Stage I means the cancer is found only in the pancreas [6]. Stage IA tumors are 2 cm or smaller, while Stage IB tumors are larger than 2 cm but no more than 4 cm [6].

Stage II means the tumor is larger than 4 cm (Stage IIA) or has spread to 1 to 3 nearby lymph nodes (Stage IIB) [6].

Stage III means the cancer has spread to four or more nearby lymph nodes or to major blood vessels near the pancreas [6].

Stage IV, also called metastatic pancreatic cancer, means the tumor has spread to other parts of the body like the liver or lungs [6].

Doctors also group cancers as resectable (can be removed by surgery), borderline resectable (hard to remove completely), or locally advanced [6].

What to know

Early pancreatic cancer often has no symptoms, which makes it hard to diagnose early [6]. The overall 5-year survival rate is about 12% [8]. Survival rates are much higher for localized disease (46%) than for distant disease (3%) [8]. Only a small number of patients (14%) are diagnosed at the localized stage [8].