Prevalence and Kinds of Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer has lately been noted to be a major cause of death worldwide. In United States of America, more than 30,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer annually, whereas in Europe over 60,000 people suffer from pancreatic cancer yearly. Despite, the high prevalence of pancreatic cancer and mainly in the developed nations, pancreatic cancer is only diagnosed in its late stages of development which makes five years survival rate for pancreatic patients less than 5%. Pancreatic cancer occurs in two forms. Classification of pancreatic cancer varies according to whether it affects endocrine or exocrine pancreas’ roles.
The two forms of cancers differ significantly in terms causes, symptoms, diagnostic tests, treatments, prognosis and risk factors. Pancreatic cancer that affects exocrine functions is the most common one and is caused by tumors referred as cystadenomas. Nonetheless, it is observed that 95% of exocrine pancreatic cancer is caused by adenocarcinomas. There are other forms of pancreatic cancer that are caused by interferences of the exocrine functions. They are named depending on how they look under microscope. They include; giant cell carcinomas, adenosquamous carcinomas and squalors cell carcinomas. Neuroendocrine is a rare type of pancreatic cancer. The pancreatic cancer is assigned a name depending on the pancreatic hormone that is affected first. They include; glucagonomas, somatostatinomas, gastrinomas, insulinomas and VIPomas.1, 2
Causes of Pancreatic Cancer
Normal cells grow, divide and die systematically. However, pancreatic cancer occurs because of continuous growth of cells that do not undergo programmed death. However, when body cells’ growth, division and death deviate from the normal pattern, a programmed cell death does not occur. The breakdown of the normal cell death results to cancer. There have been a lot of researches on the causes of cancer and especially pancreatic cancer. However, despite the many scientists’ researches that have been conducted, the exact causes of pancreatic cancer have not yet been established. Pancreatic cancer is linked with many underlying factors such as mutation in the DNA.
Gene mutation is traced to family linage. Gene mutation is also caused by carcinogens such as dyes, pesticides and chemicals. However, the most common predispose factors of pancreatic cancer are habits and diet. It is believed that majority of the people who suffer from pancreatic cancer are the elderly people who do not exercise more often. In addition, those people who take a lot of alcohol are also highly prone to pancreatic cancer. However, recent research findings indicate that the main causes of pancreatic cancer is the consumption of processed red meat.3, 4, 5
How consumption of Processed Red Meat is Linked with Cancer
Recent researches on the causes of pancreatic cancer revealed that consumption of processed meat is too dangerous for human consumption. The World Cancer Research Fund recommends that consumers should halt from buying and consuming processed meat products. Some examples of processed red meat products entail salami, bacon, sandwich, sausages as well as hot dog. The reasons why these foods are considered unfit for human consumptions is because they are manufactured with carcinogenic ingredients referred as sodium nitrate. Sodium nitrate is widely used by meat companies to make the meat appear fresh.
It is noted that sodium nitrate triggers the formation of cancer-causing nitrosamines in humans that raises the cancer risks for the people who consume them. A research carried out in 2005 by Hawaii University revealed that eating processed meat increases risks of suffering from pancreatic cancer by approximately 67%. It is noted that sodium nitrate only occurs predominately in red meat, but does not appear in white meat. Consumption of red meat is worsened when people consume processed red meat as they increase their chances of acquiring pancreatic cancer.6, 7, 8
How to Reduce Risks for Pancreatic Cancer
The USDA and FDA in United States of America are always fighting against the use of sodium nitrate in food industries. However, the fight has always been in vain because food industry in U.S. dominates the actions of government regulators. Therefore, people should make sure that they take appropriate measures to ensure that they reduce pancreatic risks by being attentive on their dieting. People should reduce their consumption of red meat.
They should avoid taking processed red meat as it contains sodium nitrate that is associated with causing pancreatic cancer. In order for people to avoid suffering from pancreatic cancer, they should consume fruits and vegetables as well as white meat. In addition, people should make sure that they read ingredient label every time they buy a product to make sure it is free from pancreatic cancer-causing ingredients such as sodium nitrate. 9, 10
References
- Ahuja, N. Johns Hopkins Patients Guide to Pancreatic Cancer. Prentice Hall: New York, 2007.
- Brender, E., Burke, A. & Glass, R. Pancreatic Cancer. The Journal of the American Association. 2007; 297: 3-7.
- Eugene, T. Pancreatic Cancer. Pancreatic Cancer Journal. 2010; 12: 34-54.
- Gerald, P & Morris, B. The Complete Book of Cancer Diagnostic Treatment and Recovery. Prentice Hall: New York. 1997.
- Hidalgo, M. Pancreatic Cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2010; 20: 12-23.
- Lorenc, L. Pancreatic Cancer it’s a Family Affairs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005.
- Louis, P. Processed Meat Once Again Linked to Pancreatic Cancer. Health Promotional Journal. 2012; 45: 67-76.
- Naughton, T. Pancreatic Cancer and Processes Red Meat. Academic Journal. 2012; 23:78-87.
- Powell, S. Searching for Early Signs of Pancreatic Cancer. Journal of Proteome Research. 2011; 10:4-4.
- Steven, H 2012 Processed Meat Consumption Linked to Higher Risks of Pancreatic Cancer, Academic Journal. 56: 45-67.