Hi, Anon, and welcome to EmpowHer. Are you concerned that you or someone close to you might have symptoms of pancreatic cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose because it's not a matter of a simple blood test, for instance. Often, other symptoms show up first that alert the doctors to look for this kind of the disease.
Here's our EmpowHer page on pancreatic cancer. If you click on "Learn more about pancreatic cancer in our Health Encyclopedia," it will take you to a page that talks about symptoms, risk factors, diagnoses (including the tests that are used) and treatments:
Since you asked specifically about the tests, here is an excerpt from the page:
Test may include:
* Upper GI series — a series of x-rays of the upper digestive system taken after drinking a barium solution
* CT scan — a type of x-ray that uses a computer to make pictures of structures inside the abdomen
* MRI scan — a test that uses magnetic waves to make pictures of structures inside the abdomen
* Ultrasonography — a test that uses sound waves to find tumors
* Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) — a type of x-ray that shows the pancreatic ductal system after dye has been sent through a tube down the throat and into the pancreas
* PTC — a type of x-ray test that shows blockages in the bile ducts of the liver
* Angiography — x-rays of blood vessels taken after an injection of dye that makes the blood vessels show up on the x-rays
* Biopsy — removal of a sample of pancreatic tissue to test for cancer cells
You can see why it's not an easy thing to catch until symptoms have started showing up. Here is the American Cancer Society's page on how pancreatic cancer is diagnosed. It goes into great detail regarding each symptom and test:
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Hi, Anon, and welcome to EmpowHer. Are you concerned that you or someone close to you might have symptoms of pancreatic cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose because it's not a matter of a simple blood test, for instance. Often, other symptoms show up first that alert the doctors to look for this kind of the disease.
Here's our EmpowHer page on pancreatic cancer. If you click on "Learn more about pancreatic cancer in our Health Encyclopedia," it will take you to a page that talks about symptoms, risk factors, diagnoses (including the tests that are used) and treatments:
https://www.empowher.com/condition/pancreatic-cancer
Since you asked specifically about the tests, here is an excerpt from the page:
Test may include:
* Upper GI series — a series of x-rays of the upper digestive system taken after drinking a barium solution
* CT scan — a type of x-ray that uses a computer to make pictures of structures inside the abdomen
* MRI scan — a test that uses magnetic waves to make pictures of structures inside the abdomen
* Ultrasonography — a test that uses sound waves to find tumors
* Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) — a type of x-ray that shows the pancreatic ductal system after dye has been sent through a tube down the throat and into the pancreas
* PTC — a type of x-ray test that shows blockages in the bile ducts of the liver
* Angiography — x-rays of blood vessels taken after an injection of dye that makes the blood vessels show up on the x-rays
* Biopsy — removal of a sample of pancreatic tissue to test for cancer cells
You can see why it's not an easy thing to catch until symptoms have started showing up. Here is the American Cancer Society's page on how pancreatic cancer is diagnosed. It goes into great detail regarding each symptom and test:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_3X_How_is_pancreatic_cancer_diagnosed_34.asp
Is this information helpful to you? Do you have more specific questions that we can help you with?
May 7, 2009 - 9:34amThis Comment
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