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- Title
Present Situation of Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer.
- Abstract
The incidence of cancer of the pancreas is rapidly increasing in Japan. However, the prognosis has not improved for a long time. The main reason for the poor prognosis is the late detection of the disease. In order to get some clues to the early detection of pancreatic cancer, case records of 267 patients with this disease were collected from 20 national hospitals in Japan. According to the data, the highest incidence of pancreatic cancer occurred between the ages of 60 and 79 yr. Except for jaundice, signs and symptoms were generally vague and not specific for pancreatic cancer. The length of the symptomatic period was relatively short. An abnormal value in the liver function test was a useful clue for cancer of the pancreatic head and extragastric compression shown by X-ray examination for cancer of the pancreatic body and tail. For definitive diagnosis, percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography was the most useful for cancer of the pancreatic head and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, computerized tomography, ultrasonography, and abdominal angiography were equally useful for cancer of the pancreatic body and tail. An important problem to be solved is to establish simple methods for screening asymptomatic patients.
- Publication
Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology, 1982, Vol 12, Issue 3, p325
- ISSN
0368-2811
- Publication type
Article