Pancreatic Cancer

News:The The Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 for pancreatic cancer has been published in The Lancet.

Facts:

Key takeaways from the study:

• The Pancreatic cancer what was once a rare disease, is now a growing cause of cancer mortality worldwide.From 1.96 lakh incidences in 1990, these rose to 4.41 lakh in 2017.
• The burden of pancreatic cancer is higher in higher income countries when compared to low income countries.
• The reason for low death rates in low-income countries is shorter life-expectancy and poor access to diagnostic facilities.As lifespan increases, so does the risk of pancreatic cancer.
• For India, the death rate due to pancreatic has increased by over five times.India has the highest numbers among South Asian nations and makes up for more than 50% of the cases.
• Pakistan comes second in the South Asian region while Bhutan had the least incidents and deaths in the region

Additional information:

About Pancreas:

• The pancreas is an organ located behind the stomach in the upper left abdomen.
• It has two main functions (a)an exocrine function that helps in digestion and (b)endocrine function that regulates blood sugar.
• Pancreatic cancer refers to tumors that start in the cells of the pancreas.
• The cancer develops when cells grow in an uncontrolled manner and form masses or tumors in the pancreas instead of growing into healthy pancreatic tissue.