What are the symptoms and stages of pancreatic cancer?

5kenneys asked...

Three weeks ago we were told my mom had a tumor in her pancreas. They said they were hopeful, etc. In the past week she is really bad, sleeping all the time, extremely bloated like she's pregnant and in pain. We still have not started any treatment and the doctors never told us what to expect. Is this normal? Is this bad? Is she dying? Does she have only a short time left? Can therapy help her? Please help me get some answers

Expert Answer

Harvey Gilbert, MD, is a radiation oncologist with more than 35 years of professional experience in the medical field, working with cancer patients. He has edited 14 medical textbooks and coauthored 40 papers in the field of oncology. Dr. Gilbert is the medical director of the Ben Schaffer Cancer Institute in Lodi, California.

The symptoms and stages of pancreatic cancer are multiple depending on the location of the disease within the pancreas and its extent. Your monther seems to have a locally advanced pancreatic cancer, from what you say, that involves the covering of the bowel or invades the local blood supply of the liver or bowel or results from spread of the cancer to the liver. The bloating is probably fluid called ascites that arise from any of the above problems. Since the average survival of inoperable pancreatic cancer is quite short, and her symptoms are so profound, I do not believe she will be able to tolerate agressive chemotherapy, with or without radiation. Even with a response to treatment, the added survival in someone with this advanced disease will be quite short and probably does not warrant the side effects. You must understand that the symptoms she is experiencing could be due to other things, and that your doctor's intervention into the proper diagnosis is very important.