Pancreatic cancer
cancer is any cancer with a primary location in the , a glandular organ lying behind the stomach. It arises when cells in the pancreas start to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. A number of types of pancreatic cancer are known.
Underlined words are explained — tap any of them.
Symptoms — what it feels like
- ·Yellow skin
- · or back pain
- ·unexplained weight loss
- ·light-colored stools
- ·dark urine
- ·loss of appetite
Causes — why it happens
- ·heavy alcohol intake
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- ·certain rare conditions
How it's found
- ·Medical
- ·blood tests
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Prevention
- ·Not smoking, low alcohol intake, maintaining a healthy weight, low red meat diet
Treatment
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- ·palliative care
Outlook
- ·Five year survival rate 14% (US, 2022)
The sections below are general education drawn from public guidelines (NHS, Mayo, CPIC, WHO, ICMR). They are not individually reviewed by a clinician and are not medical advice — always talk to a doctor about your own health.
Genes that change how certain drugs work — and that differ in South Asians. This is education, not a dosing tool; genotype-guided prescribing is a clinician decision.
5-FU and capecitabine are powerful cancer drugs your body normally breaks down quickly with the DPD . People born with a weak version can't clear the drug, so a standard dose becomes a poisoning - which is why a doctor may lower the dose or choose another plan.
South Asian signal: The classic European risk variant DPYD*2A (c.1905+1G>A, rs3918290) is markedly rarer in Indians (~0.05% allele frequency) than in Europeans (~0.3-0.5%), so a European-only variant panel will miss most at-risk Indian patients; population-specific and broader DPYD variant coverage is needed. South Asian populations may carry different or under-catalogued DPYD variants, and DPD-deficiency phenotype testing remains relevant.
Prescriber note: Where DPYD testing is used before fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy, ensure the panel is not limited to European variants (DPYD*2A is rare in Indians); consider broader genotyping and/or phenotype (DPD activity) assessment, and reduce or avoid dosing per the DPYD activity score. CPIC recommends reducing the fluoropyrimidine starting dose (guided by DPYD activity score) for DPYD intermediate metabolisers and avoiding fluoropyrimidines in poor metabolisers, because reduced DPD activity sharply raises the risk of severe or fatal toxicity.
Not a dosing tool. Genotype-guided prescribing is a clinician decision; genotyping access in India is limited.