Civil rights icon and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday, September 18, due to complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, sparking renewed public curiosity in the disease.
As people age, they experience increased risks of developing pancreatic cancer - the abnormal growth of cells in the pancreas. According to Cancer.Net, most people diagnosed with the disease are older than 45 years old, with 90% of recorded cases being older than 55 years old and 70% older than 65.
Dangers of Pancreatic Cancer
Generally, pancreatic cancer can be classified into two: exocrine and endocrine. The majority of cases, about 85 percent, occur in the part of the organ responsible for the production of digestive enzymes. Exocrine cancers are dominated by pancreatic adenocarcinoma, despite the fact that the part of the pancreas where it mostly comes from - the pancreatic ductal epithelium - only consists of 10 percent of the organ in terms of cell volume.
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The second type is endocrine cancer, specifically pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. This term refers to a diverse cluster of often benign or malignant tumors from the neuroendocrine cells, which communicate between the body's nervous (neuro) and endocrine systems.
Pancreatic cancer is not instantly recognizable in its early stages, often only diagnosed after metastasis, or spreading to other parts of the body. However, some common symptoms reported before proper diagnosis include:
Jaundice, the yellowish hue in the sclera of the eye or in the skin. According to a study led by Washington University, it is an important yet poorly recognized risk factor that affects patient survival with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Sudden weight loss, either from loss of appetite or poor digestion caused by impaired exocrine function.
Pain in the back and/or the upper abdomen, which, according to the Johns Hopkins Medicine website, might be caused by the tumor that presses on the spine.
Metastasis from pancreatic cancer can affect neighboring organs, most especially the lymph nodes, large intestine, the liver, and even lungs. There were also reports of cancer cells spreading to the bones, or to the brain.
Pancreatic Cancer in the United States
Statistics from Cancer.Net places some 57,600 adults - 30,400 males and 27,200 females - are at risk of developing pancreatic cancer in 2020, representing only 3% of all projected cancer cases in the country.
Also, if the cancer is detected at an early stage where removal is still possible, the 5-year survival rate - which estimates the part of the diagnosed population that survives five years after diagnosis - is 37%. It drastically drops to 3% for people who have been diagnosed after the cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body.
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According to the National Cancer Institute, pancreatic cancer is now the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States after lung and colorectal cancers. The institute also reported 24,640 men and 22,410 women dying from the disease.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought to the end, through her cancer, with unwavering faith in our democracy and its ideals. That's how we remember her. But she also left instructions for how she wanted her legacy to be honored. My statement: https://t.co/Wa6YcT5gDi — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 19, 2020
Aside from Ruth Bader Ginsberg, pancreatic cancer has also taken late US Representative and civil rights leader John Lewis last July 17. Apple founder and tech visionary, Steve Jobs, also succumbed to a rare form of the pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor first diagnosed in 2003. He died of cancer-related respiratory arrest in October 2011.
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