Types Of Pancreatic Cancer
February 10th, 2008 by Aaks
There are several types of cancer. Different types of cancers affect different organs, tissues of the body. When a person has developed pancreatic cancer, his glandular tissues are affected. The pancreatic cancer is usually associated with adenocarcinoma because the glandular tissues are affected. The lymph nodes affect the other parts of the organ and it is known as lymphoma. The classification of pancreas is made on the basis of the area of the pancrea affected. Either the head or the tail part of the pancreas is affected. The two main heads of cancers are exocrine cancer and endocrine cancer.
Exocrine cancer: The part of the pancreas is affected by the cancerous cells. Almost 90 % of the people who suffer from pancreatic cancer usually suffer from exocrine cancer. The cancer starts from exocrine part and spreads up to the small intestine. They are also known as ductal adenocarcinomas and they are further classified into the following categories:
Cystic tumors: When cystic tumors develop into the pancreas they are filled with fluid. Usually, it is benign in nature and if it is neglected for a long time, then the benign tumor can turn into malign.
When cancerous cells develop in the connective tissue of the pancreas, then it is known as sarcoma. This is a very rare type of cancer that usually affects the little kids.
Endocrine Cancer: Cancer occurs in the hormone secreting tissue of the pancreas. Hence the level of hormone that is produced is abnormal and hence a tumor is developed. The types of tumors that are developed are:
It is known as lymphoma when the lymph nodes of the pancreas are affected. There are many types of endocrine cancers such as gastrinoms, insulinomas, stomatostatinomas, and glucagonomas. These tumors are named after the type of hormones that is produced into these tumors.
Adenocarcinoma is such a type of cancer that cannot show any sign of improvement. But the other types of pancreas cancer can be treated easily and they can show signs of improvement. The symptoms for adenocarcinoma are also strange.
Lymphoma is a rare form of cancer it occurs more severely because it has the tendency to metastaze. When the person is affected by this type of cancer the other organs of the body are affected easily to distant parts. There are many forms of lymphomas and the type of treatments also vary according to their nature:
When it is already developed severely the chances of survival are rare. The patient would be on the safer side if he is treated at an early stage.
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