Pancreatic cancer

It is a cancer that affects the pancreas, an organ located in the abdomen, behind the stomach, which is part of the digestive system. This organ is also part of the endocrine system, which secretes hormones into the blood, thus controlling several functions of the human body such as growth, reproduction, sleep or hunger.

The TNM score is a classification system used to assess the stage of a cancer, plan treatment, and predict prognosis.

Three parameters must be taken into account:

• The T describes the size and extent of the primary tumor
• The N indicates whether the cancer faces a regional lymph node extension
• The M indicates whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, called metastasis

Different stages of development of pancreatic cancer exist depending on how well the cancer cells are spreading. The stages vary from 0 (cancer limited to the epithelium that has not yet touched deeper areas of the pancreas and has no metastasis or extension to the lymph nodes) to IV (metastatic cancer that is, cancer that is, cancer that has spread to distant organs such as the lung or liver).

There are several treatments available for pancreatic cancer. Treatment involves multidisciplinary care that depends on the stage of the disease, the cancerous tumor and the overall health condition of the patient.