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Woman: Well from his energy in Dirty Dancing to his talent in Ghost Patrick Swayze seemed unbreakable on the silver screen. Maybe that’s why it was tough to watch him get frail and his health decline because of pancreatic cancer. So how much do we really know about this deadly disease? Well Dr. Salman Malad is a medical oncologist at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and he’s here to tell us more about this disease. Good Morning.
Dr Salman Malad: Good Morning
W: It is great to have you Dr. Malad.
Dr Salman Malad: My pleasure to be here.
W: First of all, for a lot of people that are not familiar with pancreatic cancer, which by the way, I was reading, is the fourth leading cause of cancer related deaths in the US. Tell us more about pancreatic cancer.
Dr Salman Malad: Pancreatic cancer is essentially defined as an uncontrolled overgrowth of abnormal cells within the pancreas. The pancreas is responsible for the production of digestive enzymes and hormones within the body. It’s actually estimated that approximately 42,000 Americans each year will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
W: And what causes it?
Dr Salman Malad: Unfortunately, we don’t have any clear links to it. We do know that smoking is a very strong risk factor as a matter of fact the counts were up to 20 to 30 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer.
W: Hmm, ok. And tell us about the different signs and stages a person will go through.
Dr Salman Malad: Sure. With respect to signs and symptoms, most patients will present with things like weight loss, getting full very easily, jaundice, these are all very very common, common symptoms. Now with respect to staging, the way we stage pancreatic cancer is from very early staging stage one all the way to very advanced, stage four.
W: Much like breast cancer.
Dr Salman Malad: Much like breast cancer, yes. What we do is we look at the size of the tumor, we look at the extent of its spread is it confined to the pancreas has it gone beyond the pancreas to distant organs. We look at lymph node involvement as well. Now when we stage we do so utilizing imaging studies such as CAT scans, MRI’s, PET scans and even endoscopic ultrasound. At Cancer Treatment Centers of America we're able to use all these modalities, and furthermore we treat all stages of patients but our focus is on treating advanced patients.
W: I was reading that 75% of pancreatic cancer patients actually die within the first 12 months of being diagnosed. The five year survival rate is 5%. Now in Patrick Swayze’s case what I found was interesting was when he was diagnosed he managed to live two more years. Why is that so?
Dr Salman Malad: I think he is a testament to what we tell our patients at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which is every patient is different, and treatment is individualized. So he is a fantastic example of someone who fought A.) a very courageous battle and B.) He was treated pretty aggressively and I think because of his overall good health did quite well.
W: And he also went through clinical trials too which may have prolonged his life a little bit more.
Dr Salman Malad: May have. I know he got very conventional treatment though, the typical what we do chemotherapy, radiation, etc
W: Dr. Malad, fascinating to talk with you. thank you so much for your time.
Dr Salman Malad: My pleasure.
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