The most important thing you can do today to prevent pancreatic cancer is.... believe it or not, don't smoke. Smoking causes somewhere around 30% or so cases of pancreatic cancers.
We really need early detection. The list of famous people that I've heard of who died from pancrer cancer keeps growing:
Randy Pausch - Last Lecture
Steve Jobs
Patrick Swayze
Sally Ride - astronaut
Piers Sellers - astronaut
Hans Rosling
Richard Hatch
Where did I say anything about not needing early detection(1) or anything negative at all?
I'm giving actionable advice that you can follow right now at this very moment until we have other methods of prevention. That's what we got and it's easy to implement(2) and mildly effective.
(1) Though that's another can of worms considering there's cases where routine screening of asymptomatic individuals at low-to-average risk of a disease can actually do more harm than good, but that's another topic. Screening certainly can also be beneficial too, I'm not hating on it as a concept.
(2) Provided you aren't already a smoker. If you are, it can be difficult to quit, obviously.
Stop telling people that.
The current belief is that a lot of cancers are just "bad luck": https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/most-cancer-cases...
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/pancreatic-canc...
> We don’t know what causes most pancreatic cancers. But there are some factors that may increase your risk of developing it.
[...]
> About 7 out of 10 cases (70%) of chronic pancreatitis are due to long term heavy drinking. Chronic pancreatitis is a known risk factor for cancer of the pancreas.
> Some research suggests there may be a link between heavy drinkers and risk of pancreatic cancer.
> The risk is higher in people who drink 3 or more alcoholic drinks a day compared to those who drink less than 1 alcoholic drink a day.
[...]
> The links between diet and pancreatic cancer are unclear.
> A study showed that pancreatic cancer risk was higher in men who ate 120g red meat a day compared to those who ate no red meat.
> Some studies show an increase in risk with large amounts of saturated fat in your diet.
> A diet high in folate may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, but different studies have shown conflicting results. Folate is found in leafy, green vegetables.
1. Exocrine cells - 95% of pancreatic cancer are in the exocrine cells which produce the enzymes that are responsible for food digestion, and 95% of exocrine cancers are adenocarcinomas which impact the cell lining of the pancreatic duct. This is the bad one, with a survival rate below 10% 5 years after diagnosis.
2. Endocrine cells - The other 5% of pancreatic cancers impact endocrine cells which produce enzymes to regulate your blood sugar. Jobs' cancer was reportedly a Glucagonoma which was overproducing glucagon leading to very high blood sugars. These are extremely rare cancers but broadly, with early surgery the 5-year survival rate is above 85%. The 10 year survival rate is above 65%.
That's why there was so much criticism for Jobs' delayed treatment. His tumor was first diagnosed in 2003 and he basically ignored it for a year in favor of alternative treatments and healthy eating. By the time he actually had surgery, the cancer had progressed to mets in his lymphs and his liver.
And, to make it clear just how ridiculous his decision was, among the alternative treatments he used included coffee enemas. There's literally no reason at all to believe coffee enemas can cure cancer, but that's what he was doing while his cancer was spreading.
Everyone should be able to make their own treatment decisions, of course. But, my dad was killed by the distinctly not good kind of pancreatic cancer, and I feel a little entitled to be pissed off at folks who squander the incredible fortune of having a treatable case and ignoring every bit of relevant science in favor of the advice of quacks.