Pancreatic cancer is a disease that occurs when cells of the pancreas, a gland located behind the stomach, grow uncontrollably, forming a tumor and inhibiting normal pancreatic function. Because the pancreas produces digestive enzymes needed to break down dietary fat, consuming fat increases the workload on the pancreas, causing stress on the gland that can increase the pain from pancreatic cancer.
Role of the Pancreas
The pancreas contains two types of cells; the islets of Langerhans that produce the hormones insulin and glucagon -- important for maintaining blood glucose levels, and the acinar cells that produce enzymes important for digestion. The pancreas produces two protease enzymes, trypsin and chymotrypsin, that break down proteins; amylase enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates; and lipase enzyme that breaks down dietary fat. The pancreas secretes these enzymes with pancreatic fluid that flows through the pancreatic duct to the common bile duct and empties into upper portion of the small intestine known as the duodenum.
Cancer Symptoms
Pancreatic cancer may not cause any symptoms in the early stages, but as the tumor grows it can cause nausea, vomiting, dark urine and pain in the upper portion of your abdomen or the middle of your back. When the tumor gets large enough to inhibit pancreatic function, you may experience fatty stools that float on top of the water. This occurs because without lipase enzyme produced by the pancreas, dietary fat remains in the digestive tract and gets excreted with the waste. Pancreatic cancer inhibits the absorption of nutrients, which causes fatigue and weight loss.
Pain
Diseases of the pancreas, including pancreatic cancer, affect your body’s ability to break down and absorb nutrients. To reduce the pain caused by the cancer, your doctors may suggest you eat more frequent but smaller meals, avoid high-fiber foods and reduce your intake of fat. Treatment for pancreatic cancer may involve surgery to remove part or the entire pancreas. Following the surgery, you may need to take digestive enzyme supplements to aid in the digestion of fat and reduce the abdominal pain and discomfort you feel after eating.
Risk
The exact cause of pancreatic cancer remains unknown, but certain factors can increase your risk. People who have a family history of pancreatic cancer, who smoke or who are obese have an increased risk for developing pancreatic cancer. Inflammation of the pancreas, known as pancreatitis, also increases your risk. The World Health Organization reports that dietary factors account for about 30 percent of cancers in Western countries. Research published in the “Journal of the National Cancer Institute” in 2009 found an association between dietary fat intake and risk for pancreatic cancer. According to this study, male patients with the highest consumption of dietary fat showed a 53 percent higher incidence of pancreatic cancer and female patients with a high fat intake showed a 23 percent higher rate than those with the lowest fat intake.
References
- “Journal of the National Cancer Institute”; Dietary Fatty Acids and Pancreatic Cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study; A. Thiebaut, et al.; 2009
- Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine: Diet and Cancer Research
- Science Daily; Dietary Fat Linked to Pancreatic Cancer; June 2009
- National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse; Pancreatitis; July 2008
- Johns Hopkins Medicine: Pancreas Function
- National Cancer Institute; Cancer of the Pancreas; July 2010
- Cancer Research UK: Diet and Pancreatic Cancer
