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Abdominal discomfort, loss of appetite, weight lost, weakness and occasional nausea are usually seen in colon, rectal or pancreatic cancer patients. A patient with said symptoms should immediately be evaluated by a GI specialist. Colon cancer most commonly spreads to the liver or lungs; Rectal cancer most commonly spreads to the liver, lungs, the peritoneum (abdominal lining) and the brain; and, Pancreatic cancer most commonly spreads to the liver, the peritoneum (abdominal lining) and the lungs. Moreover, as we get older, most types of cancer become more common. The patient, Mr. J.C. was reported to be 82 years of age. A United States population-based study reveals the following: that the average age of diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is 71 years old, that there is a higher percentage of men affected than women, that there is a greater incidence in Black compared to White patients and that there is an increase in incidence in recent years (Samaan et al., 2023).
Tumor markers are proteins produced by cancer cells in response to cancer in the body. Blood tests may show these biomarkers aiding in proper diagnosis. The tumor markers commonly used for pancreatic cancer are CA19-9 and CEA. There will be an increase of these tumor markers in the presence of cancer. If pancreatic cancer is in someone’s family history, it is important to advocate for them to begin screening early. TNM staging system is used to describe the location and size of the tumor as well as if it has spread to nearby lymph nodes and/or different parts of the body. Based on the case study described the TNM staging classification of Mr. J.C. is T4N1M1. This is deduced because the tumor has extended into major veins near the pancreas yet has not spread to lymph nodes or different parts of the body. TNM classification is important because it helps the health care provider decide which treatment is best for the patient as well as the patient’s prognosis.
Malignant tumors are cancerous tumors that can spread its cancer cells throughout the body via the circulatory system or the lymphatic system. The cells breaking away from the tumor and travel to other parts of the body is known as metastasizing. They usually grow rapidly, have poor boundaries. Carcinogenesis describes the transformation of healthy cells into cancer cells. It has three phases: initiation, promotion, and progression. Initiation is when initial cell mutation occurs and promotion, which is reversible, is when cells are stimulated to divide. The final stage, progression, is irreversible and is characterized by cells competing with one another to survive. This leads to more mutations making the cells more aggressive. Malignant conversion of benign hyper-plastic cells to a malignant state occurs in between promotion and progression. Here is where invasion and metastasis are manifestations of further genetic and epigenetic changes inclusive of the cancer cells invading other tissues. The tissue level that is affected on the patient discussed above is epithelial tissue. The endocrine part of the pancreas consists of islets of Langerhans therefore the secretions of the acini empty into ducts lined with cuboidal epithelium. It is noteworthy to keep in mind that all cancers can and do occur spontaneously, age is an important determinant of cancer risk, and genetic tumor predisposition syndrome increases enormously the risk of cancer (Moolgavkar et al., 2023).
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