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The announcement of Patrick Swayze's cancer diagnosis in January 2008 followed by his demise on September 15, 2009, only 20 months later, was both tragic and a reminder that we have a long way to go in cancer treatment.
Patrick Swayze was only 57 years old when he lost his struggle to cancer. His memorable roles in Ghost and Dirty Dancing made him one of Hollywood's great. And while we may glamorize the life of the stars, we know that money cannot buy health or even guarantee a cure to cancer.
Cancer
More than 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year and the numbers keep on growing. Cancer causes seven million deaths every year or 12.5 percent of deaths worldwide.
It doesn't matter if you're rich, poor, young or old. Every person on the planet is at risk of cancer. Famous actors like Robert DeNiro, Diahann Carroll and Christina Applegate, singers like Sheryl Crow and Kylie Minogue have all suffered from cancer.
Cancer is the uncontrolled growth and spread of cells that may affect almost any tissue of the body. Lung, colorectal and stomach cancer affect both men and women, while prostate cancer only occurs in men and cervical cancer only occurs in women. Breast cancer more commonly affects women, but can also affect men.
Pancreatic Cancer
Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2008. This is cancer which originates from the pancreas - a hormonal organ found tucked away behind the intestines in the abdomen. The 'hidden' location of the pancreas means that symptoms of cancer are often subtle. There is also no screening test to check for pancreatic cancer making it difficult to detect.
Pancreatic cancer is not the most common type of cancer but it is the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. For most people the diagnosis is only made very late in the course of the illness. Swayze already had stage IV pancreatic cancer at the time of diagnosis. This means the cancer had already spread to other organs in the body, in his case, the liver.
In general, the larger a cancer is and the further it has spread at the time of diagnosis, the worse the outlook for the sufferer is. Despite his advanced disease Patrick completed his work on his television show The Beast, conducted several interviews and campaigned for cancer research during his final months.
What causes pancreatic cancer?
Nobody is certain as to what causes pancreatic cancer. Like so many other cancers most experts believe it is a combination of both your genetics and lifestyle which triggers the disease.
We know the following factors will increase your risk of developing pancreatic cancer:
Smoking cigarettes increases your chances of developing many cancers, including pancreatic cancer.
Chronic inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) over a number of years can increase your risk of cancer.
Male. Men are 1.3 times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than women. Age. The average age at which pancreatic cancer develops is 65. This means, the older you get the higher your risk of developing this cancer is. Diabetes. This medical condition has been linked to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in later life. Family risk. Having a first-degree family member with pancreatic cancer triples your risk of the disease.
While Swayze had his smoking habit and gender stacked up against him, he didn't have any of the other risk factors for pancreatic cancer. Like all other cancer sufferers, Swayze must have wondered why he developed this cancer. When it comes to cancer, we just don't have enough answers
What would be the signs and symptoms?
As previously mentioned, pancreatic cancer most often grows and spreads without detection, in 50 percent of all sufferers the cancer has spread to other organs by the time obvious symptoms develop. The symptoms and signs which pancreatic cancer may cause depend on the size and location of the cancer in the pancreas.
Jaundice. In a small number of people pancreatic cancer can present as yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes and darkening of the urine. Pain. Typically lower back pain which is only relieved by heat or bending forward is a sign of pancreatic cancer. The problem is that there are many other much more common causes of back pain.
Loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss. Cancer puts the body into a 'breaking down' state. Someone with cancer not only won't feel like eating, but will burn more kilojoules as their body focuses its resources on fighting the disease. Someone with cancer can lose up to several kilograms a week.
Nausea and vomiting. While it's not very specific, someone with pancreatic cancer will frequently complain of feeling bilious, especially after eating fatty meals.
What are the chances of survival?
Pancreatic cancer generally has a poor outlook. For those with advanced disease most will not survive one year after diagnosis. For those with early disease which can be operated on, one-in-four will still be alive after five years. Despite his late stage diagnosis and grim initial reports, Swayze survived another 20 months after his diagnosis. Cancer experts would consider this better than anyone can hope for. It makes us all feel like we are living on borrowed time.
What treatment is there?
For about 20 percent of pancreatic cancer patients the tumor is still located in the pancreas and can be removed. The surgery is technically very tricky and highly specialized, taking on average six to eight hours. Surgery offers the best chance of survival for any sufferer.
Chemotherapy also forms a vital part of the treatment. For those with late disease, chemotherapy can slow down the rate of spread of the cancer and give the person a few more months of life. In those with early disease, surgery is first done followed by chemotherapy to kill off cancer cells which may have microscopically spread around the body.
Chemotherapy is sadly, not a perfect science. While pharmaceutical companies pour billions of dollars into researching new cancer-fighting chemicals, there is no such thing as 'a cure for cancer'. Not everyone or every tumor responds the same way to a chemotherapy drug.
Treatment, as with Patrick Swayze, may even be experimental. The drugs are often toxic and may have horrible side-effects. But they may also work. Unless people are brave enough to try these treatments, we will never really progress in finding the treatments which work best.
Those who blame chemotherapy for Swayze's death have lost sight of the fact that cancer kills people, and that chemotherapy has saved many lives. There is no treatment - alternative or mainstream - which can guarantee success. But every person who has chemotherapy provides us with an answer that slowly navigates us towards success.
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