If you’ve got indigestion and stomach ache, and maybe you’re off your food and feeling a bit sick, you might think
you’ve just got a tummy bug. And while that’s by far the most likely cause,
always be aware that they’re the symptoms of something far worse too –
pancreatic cancer.
Symptoms of the disease, can often be
mistaken for other, far more benign, conditions, and that’s why many people
don’t seek medical help until the cancer is in its later stages and far more
difficult to treat.
As a result, pancreatic cancer is the
deadliest common cancer – more than half of people with the disease die within
three months of diagnosis, says Pancreatic Cancer UK (PCUK).
PCUK specialist nurse, Jeni Jones, says:
“The vast majority of cases are diagnosed when the cancer is already at a late
stage, because the symptoms often overlap with other conditions like
indigestion and irritable bowel syndrome. If you have a symptom that’s
persistent, you should speak to a GP – it could mean you’re diagnosed early.”
Here are some of the symptoms that could
be easy to dismiss as something less serious…
1. Indigestion
Indigestion and/or heartburn can be a
common symptom of pancreatic cancer – but one that most people wouldn’t
necessarily think was linked to a serious disease.
“A lot of the time people might just take
over-the-counter remedies for persistent indigestion – it’s not something that
will automatically see you running to the GP,” says Jones. “But there are times
when it might line up with other symptoms like pain in your tummy or back, and
with several niggling things happening, which could suggest pancreatic cancer.”
2. Tummy or back pain
This can be anything from a dull ache to
pain that radiates from your tummy around to your back, explains Jones. “It may
be around your bra line if you’re a woman,” she says. “It’s not lower back
pain, and it’s often between the shoulder blades. It may be worse after you eat
something, and it doesn’t tend to go away easily.”
She says combined tummy and back pain is
quite a common symptom, but some people may just have one or the other.
3. Unexplained weight loss
Weight loss connected to pancreatic
cancer might initially be seen when people aren’t really trying to lose weight
and are eating relatively normally. “They might just notice their clothes are
getting loose,” Jones says.
4. Appetite loss
Losing weight is of course sometimes be
related to appetite loss, which is another easily-ignored pancreatic cancer
symptom, at least initially. “It can range from people thinking they’re not
really that hungry, to having no appetite at all and not being able to face
food or feeling full after very little food,” says Jones, who explains that
such appetite changes may be because the tumour is pressing on the stomach, or
just diminishing the capacity to eat.
5. Jaundice
Jaundice is a less easy-to-ignore
pancreatic cancer symptom, but it only tends to occur in people whose tumour is
towards the head of the pancreas, explains Jones. “Not everyone with pancreatic
cancer will get jaundice, although it is very prevalent,” she says. “It’s a red
flag symptom – you might notice it when the whites of your eyes turn a bit
yellow, before your skin starts to get that yellow tinge.”
6. Itchiness
Your skin might become incredibly itchy
before you develop jaundice, because bile salts build up under the skin first.
“It’s insanely itchy,” stresses Jones. “I’m not talking about a little itch, it
would have you scratching to a crazy degree.”
7. Changes to bowel habits
“This is a very, very important one,”
stresses Jones, “because there are many, many causes of diarrhoea, but this is
something we call steatorrhea – when there’s fat present in the stool, which
makes it go a yellowy colour, which also happens in jaundice. This greasy,
yellowy poo that doesn’t flush away is a sure sign that there’s something wrong
higher up in the digestive system.
“If the patient doesn’t describe the
specifics of their diarrhoea, it can waste time for diagnosis, and time is of
the essence.”
8. Recently diagnosed diabetes
Jones warns that a very small amount of people with recently diagnosed diabetes may have pancreatic cancer, because the cancer can stop the pancreas producing enough insulin, which can lead to diabetes. She explains: “If you have some of the pancreatic cancer symptoms and you’re suddenly diagnosed with diabetes, then that ought to be a red flag symptom for your GP to think about whether you need a scan to check your pancreas.”
9. Nausea
Feeling or being sick can be another
pancreatic cancer symptom, although she stresses: “Sometimes people can vomit,
but that’s not as common as feeling sick.”
10. Blood clots
Jones says blood clots are an uncommon
pancreatic cancer symptom, and one that would perhaps be seen in people who,
for example, are younger and non-smokers and so wouldn’t typically be at risk
of clots.
“They might present with breathlessness
or a swollen leg and go for a scan and find out they’ve got pancreatic
cancer,” she says. “It’s exceptional, but clots are a symptom and could be
leading to the fact that there’s an underlying problem.”
11. Fatigue
Tiredness can, of course, be caused by
any number of things, but if you have other symptoms too, it could be linked to
pancreatic cancer, warns Jones . “If you rest and can’t recharge your
batteries, coupled with some of the other symptoms, like ongoing pain or
steatorrhea, which drain a person physically, it could be another pancreatic
cancer symptom.”
12. Fever, shivering, and feeling unwell
Such symptoms are uncommon pancreatic
cancer symptoms but aren’t unheard of and may be either linked to the cancer
itself, or possibly an infection linked to jaundice, which Jones says will need
immediate medical attention.
13. Difficulty swallowing food
“The cancer can make a person feel full
up, so although they think the problem is to do with their swallowing, it’s
often the fact that they’re just not able to fit the food in,” says Jones, who
explains that pancreatic cancer doesn’t actually cause problems with the
oseophagus, it may just make swallowing feel abnormal.
14. Depression and anxiety
Depression and anxiety without any
obvious cause is a common symptom of pancreatic cancer, says Jones. “In of
itself, it’s probably not something that would make you say you’ve probably got
pancreatic cancer,” she says, “but low mood can go hand-in-hand with pain and
fatigue. Again, it’s taking these things as a whole, rather than in isolation.”