Pancreatic Cancer Life Expectancy

The pancreas is an organ in the human body that produces fluids and hormones, such as insulin. Pancreatic cancer occurs when a malignant tumor grows in or on the pancreas. Consider these facts from The American Cancer Society.

Significance

• Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. It is estimated that 35,240 deaths from the disease would occur in 2009.

General Life Expectancy

• Twenty percent of patients with pancreatic cancer survive one year after diagnosis.

Five-Year Rate

• As a whole, the average five-year survival rate of those with pancreatic cancer is four percent.

Milder Forms

• It is very difficult to catch pancreatic cancer during its early stages, but those who receive a diagnosis when the cancer is in a mild form have a higher five-year success rate. Depending on the size of the tumor at the time of diagnosis, the figure for those who reach the fifth year anniversary is 21 to 37 percent.

Considerations

• One of the reasons why the life expectancy for pancreatic cancer is so short is because the location of the pancreas within the body often makes it hard to detect until the cancer has already spread to other areas of the body.

Potential

• There is a chance that DNA-related research may lead to early detection of the disease, possibly leading to an improvement in the life expectancy rates in the future.