She beat pancreatic cancer through early detection of the disease. An unusual symptom caught her attention.

In Poland, they average about 3.5 thousand per year. new cases of pancreatic cancer, which in turn means that every day about 10 patients learn about the disease. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer usually appear quite late - only when the cancer is already in an advanced stage. Therefore, the onset of symptoms is usually associated with the progression of the disease. The period from the onset of the first symptoms to the onset of a life-threatening condition is relatively short. Maria Menounos, a correspondent for E!News, shared online her story of undergoing a successful operation to remove a nearly four-centimeter tumor. The journalist was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after an unusual symptom of the disease caught her attention.

Anxiety symptom - tearing pain inside

Detecting pancreatic cancer at an early stage greatly increases the chances of recovery. So it was with the American journalist. The first symptoms of this cancer can often be overlooked and confused with other symptoms. In June 2022, a 44-year-old woman began experiencing severe and intermittent leg cramps. The pain was so intense that she couldn’t stop screaming. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the time, but managed to get it under control by controlling her insulin and glucose levels.

However, just a month later, the woman returned to the hospital with “excruciating abdominal pain combined with diarrhoea.” Computed tomography and other tests did not reveal the disease, but the 44-year-old man continued to struggle with suffering. A few weeks later, during the flight, the symptoms worsened significantly. Maria Menounos felt intense pain, which she described as “like someone is ripping out her insides”.

A whole-body MRI revealed a 3.9 cm pancreatic tumor. The biopsy confirmed it was a stage 2 neuroendocrine tumor, a less common type of pancreatic cancer that accounts for less than 2% of all cases. this cancer (the more common type is pancreatic adenocarcinoma). Its early detection gave the woman a chance to overcome the disease - the tumor was removed along with part of the pancreas, spleen, large fibroids and 17 lymph nodes. The procedure itself was successful, without the need for subsequent treatment in the form of chemotherapy.

Maria Menounos was very lucky in this whole situation, not only because of the quick detection of the disease. The neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer she suffered from is rare and has a better prognosis than the more common form of this cancer. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is among the cancers with the worst prognosis - the average survival period from diagnosis is several to several months.

What are the symptoms of pancreatic cancer?

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death has an extremely poor prognosis. The chance to overcome this disease is its early detection and effective treatment. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer arise as a result of local impact of the tumor (for example, when it is compressed on neighboring structures), as well as as a result of the formation of distant metastases and the general effect on the human body. Many of the symptoms of pancreatic cancer are also found in other diseases, so it is often difficult to detect.

This is a typical symptom of pancreatic cancer. stomach ache - usually localized in the epigastrium and often radiates to the spine. It can be constant or episodic with varying degrees of severity, sometimes decreasing when the victim lies in the fetal position. There are other signs yellowing of the skin, mucous membranes, and whites of the eyescaused by jaundice. In pancreatic cancer, it occurs as a result of compression of the bile ducts by a tumor or enlargement of the lymph nodes and obstruction of the outflow of bile (containing bilirubin) from the liver to the intestines. The cause may also be damage to the liver by cancer metastases.

Pancreatic cancer can also present with:

• weight loss, lack of appetite,

• nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,

• diabetes mellitus (or the so-called impaired glucose tolerance).

There may also be thromboembolic events, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, as well as subcutaneous nodules with adipose tissue necrosis, recurrent pancreatitis and depression. Although the cause of pancreatic cancer has not been identified, scientists say that smoking, alcohol abuse and genetic factors may play a role in causing the disease.