The information on this page was reviewed and approved by
Maurie Markman, MD, President, Medicine & Science at CTCA.
This page was updated on November 05, 2020.
The symptoms of pancreatic cancer may differ depending on size of the tumor and the type of cell affected. Symptoms also may not develop until the tumor has grown, the cancer has reached an advanced stage or spread to other parts of the body.
When symptoms of a pancreatic tumor first appear, they most commonly include jaundice, or a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes, which is caused by an excess of bilirubin—a dark, yellow-brown substance made by the liver. Sudden weight loss is also a common early warning sign of pancreatic cancer. Other symptoms of cancer of the pancreas include:
Most pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed with advanced disease, which is cancer that's spread from the pancreas to other parts of the body, including the bowel, liver, lungs, spleen or stomach. In addition to the common symptoms of pancreatic cancer, symptoms of pancreatic cancer that's advanced may include:
Understanding when symptoms are a sign of something serious and either diagnosing the disease or confirming a previous diagnosis require expertise from specialists trained and experienced in treating pancreatic cancer. At Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA), our pancreatic cancer experts treat all stages of the disease.
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