What Is Pancreatic Cancer?

What is pancreatic cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is the general term for cancer of the pancreas.

The pancreas is a gland that sits in the upper abdomen, just behind the stomach. It has three general sections, the round head, the body and tail. The pancreas is both an endocrine and exocrine gland. This means that it both produces hormones which are secreted into the blood and a secretion that is secreted through ducts into the digestive tract. The major hormones secreted by the endocrine pancreas include insulin and glucagon. The secretions of the exocrine pancreas are important for digestion, both neutralizing the acid from the stomach and aiding in digestion of nutrients in our diet.

Pancreatic cancer is any malignant tumor which originates from any part of the pancreas. Tumors can arise from any of the sections of the gland, the head, body or tail. The large majority of pancreas tumors arise from the exocrine portion of the gland. The most common type is called adenocarcinoma, although other pathological types are possible. Tumors that arise from the endocrine cells of the pancreas are much more rare. Known as pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), they have several subtypes which depend on the specific cell types from which they grow.