Pancreatic cancer, the king of cancers, is mistaken for a stomach disease by many people! 4 abnormalities, please promptly seek medical attention

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I. Is a long-term vegetarian diet likely to cause pancreatic cancer?

Data show that 495,700 new cases of pancreatic cancer and 466,000 deaths occurred worldwide in 2020, an increase of 8.03% and 7.81%, respectively, compared to 2018. It is the 7th leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Pancreatic cancer is extremely malignant, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 10%, and has been known as the king of cancers. Is there a relationship between the development of pancreatic cancer and vegetarianism?

Theoretically, eating a vegetarian diet is associated with a higher intake of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, and a lower intake of fat and almost no cholesterol, which can reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

But it is not recommended to be a vegetarian for a long time, said Professor Li Quan, director of the Department of Endocrinology and Rheumatology at the Rocket Medical Center, who said that vegetarianism can easily lead to a lack of vitamin B, which plays a very important role in the metabolism of sugar and fat in the body. Once the body is deficient in vitamin B, it can easily lead to abnormalities in sugar and fat metabolism and induce the development of atherosclerosis.

So is it safe to say that eating a vegetarian diet is prone to cancer? Is it the culprit of pancreatic cancer?

Dr. Jin Chuan, director of the Department of Internal Medicine of the Cancer Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, said that the occurrence of cancer is related to a variety of factors, including genetics, environment, lifestyle habits, diet, and environment, etc. We can say that diet affects the risk of cancer, but we cannot say that it must be diet that promotes cancer.

2. These are the culprits of pancreatic cancer

Eating vegetarian is not the culprit of pancreatic cancer, but the following factors are the culprits of pancreatic cancer.

1. Smoking and drinking

Smokers have a significantly higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared to non-smokers. The nicotine, carcinogen exposure within tobacco leads to significantly enhanced expression of stem cell markers within pancreatic cancer, allowing cancer cells to renew themselves and differentiate into other cell types, increasing the incidence of cancer.

And alcohol consumption has multiple effects on the endocrine function of the pancreas. Ethanol is metabolized by ethanol dehydrogenase to produce ethanol and reactive oxidants that affect normal pancreatic function while also activating pancreatic stellate cells to induce fibrosis, promote the release of pro-inflammatory mediators, damage organelles, genetic alterations, and promote pancreatic cancer development.

2. Dietary factors

A diet high in red meat, high-fat, high-energy foods can lead to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, as well as a somewhat increased risk of bowel and stomach cancer.

3. Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the clear risk factors for pancreatic cancer, and having diabetes for ≥10 years will lead to a significant increase in the occurrence of pancreatic cancer, and patients with more than 20 years of disease will have a higher risk of developing cancer.

4. Chronic pancreatitis

Chronic pancreatitis constantly irritates pancreatic tissue and increases the risk of somatic and genetic mutations, significantly increasing the risk of pancreatic cancer. Data show that patients with rare autosomal dominant chronic pancreatitis have a 70-fold increased risk of pancreatic cancer and a 40-55% lifetime risk of developing the disease.

3. Pancreatic cancer can "masquerade" as a stomach disease, so don't be concerned about the 4 symptoms

The early symptoms of pancreatic cancer are mostly abdominal pain, bloating, belching, etc., which can easily be mistaken for common gastritis or indigestion. In clinical practice, about 60-80% of pancreatic cancer patients will be mistaken for gastric disease or common cholecystitis for treatment. This delays the condition and by the time the real culprit is discovered, it is often too late and the best time for surgery is missed.

Although pancreatic cancer is a very camouflaged disease with insidious signs of cancer, it is not untraceable, and the following symptoms should be highly alerted.

Abdominal pain is one of the most common symptoms of pancreatic cancer and is usually felt in the mid-abdomen, left/right upper abdomen, and in a small number of patients, in the right and left lower abdomen. The nature of the pain is colicky, paroxysmal or persistent, progressively worsening dull pain.

Cancer cells will continue to rob the body of normal cells, which will then cause the patient's body to lose weight in a short period of time. Without deliberate weight loss, a weight loss of more than 10% in a short period of time must be alarming.

Pancreatic cancer causes a distinctive characteristic of not wanting to eat at all for greasy food and wanting to vomit when you see high protein, high fat food.

Pancreatic cancer also causes abnormal symptoms in the digestive tract such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and black stools, but these symptoms can easily be mistaken for other medical conditions.

Also, compared to gastric disease, pancreatic cancer still has distinct idiosyncrasies. The pain caused by gastric disease can be relieved with medication, whereas the pain caused by pancreatic cancer is difficult to relieve even with medication, and the symptoms persist and worsen progressively. Gastric disease does not usually present with jaundice symptoms, while 90% of pancreatic cancer patients do have jaundice.

4. Pancreatic cancer especially favors 5 types of people, so get screened early

Pancreatic cancer "favors" some people, so if you fall into one of the following 5 categories, you should be screened early.

Currently, the main clinical screening tests for pancreatic cancer are imaging and tumor marker screening, including endoscopy, ultrasound, CT, MRI, etc.

There is a strong relationship between the occurrence of pancreatic cancer and poor daily living habits. To prevent pancreatic cancer, we should make changes from the details of life, including maintaining a healthy diet, a good mindset, insisting on exercise, and not smoking and drinking alcohol.