Pancreatic Cancer Likely Killed Steve Jobs...But What is it?

By now, most of the world has heard about the death of innovative genius Steve Jobs. Most likely, they read about it on a device he designed, marketed, or developed as CEO of Apple AAPL. Many of those folks, particularly those who follow the technology world or financial markets, were aware that Mr. Jobs was fighting off a rare form of pancreatic cancer — the disease that almost certainly led to his death Wednesday night. Jobs' death to the disease has left many people wondering: What is pancreatic cancer? Is is it rare? How does one get it? For that matter, what does the pancreas do? For starters, the pancreas is a small but crucial organ in the body. It's flat, about six inches in length, and looks roughly like a flattened pear. It is surrounded by the stomach and the intestines, as well as the liver and your spine. The main arteries and veins of your body flow right by the pancreas, stopping to drop off and pick up supplies on the way. It is, quite literally, at the center of everything your body does to keep itself alive. Its location at the heart of everything in your body is key, because the pancreas plays a key role in two separate body systems: the endocrine and exocrine systems. In English, that means the pancreas aids with both digestion and your hormone systems. The exocrine part of the pancreas produces enzymes that help your body digest food. As food enters your stomach, these cells release digestive enzymes that find their way into the pancreatic duct. From there, the enzymes are deposited into the small intestine, where the enzymes help your body digest fats, carbs, and protein. The endocrine part of the pancreas deals with hormones, specifically glucagon and insulin. If you know any diabetics, as I do, you are probably intimately familiar with insulin. It is the hormone that, along with glucagon, regulates blood sugar in the body. (Insulin drives it down while glucagon drives it up.) Type One diabetics cannot produce insulin (their immune system destroys that function in the pancreas), which is why they have to supplement their body with insulin shots or an insulin pump. Type Two diabetics have a system that has run amok, and need assistance with insulin regulation. The majority of pancreatic cancers are malignant and start in the exocrine, or digestive, section of the pancreas. Roughly 95 percent of all pancreatic cancers start in this portion of the pancreas and are referred to as "exocrine tumors". The other 5 percent start in the endocrine section, and are referred to as endocrine tumors. They are also commonly referred to as neuroendocrine or islet cell tumors. It is this rarer, 5 percent form of cancer that Steve Jobs had. Pancreatic cancer is almost always deadly for the patient. For all the stages of the cancer combined (i.e., including the very best cases, where it is caught early and treatable with surgery), most people who get the disease die quickly. The 1- and 5-year relative survival rates are 25% and 6%, respectively. When you look at the people who get the metastatic version, which is something like 80% of the people diagnosed, you find that folks rarely live out beyond another 6 to 10 months. Overall, about 95 percent of people who get pancreatic cancer die from it. This is because, as you might imagine, there are few or no symptoms when the cancer first begins. It is only later, when the cancer spreads, that the signs of cancer show. By then, it is too late. As of now, there are no good tests or tools to screen for pancreatic cancer, and doctors aren't entirely sure how to prevent it. There are, however, a few risk factors that you can be aware of. According to WebMD.com, there are five key factors that put you at higher risk for developing pancreatic cancer.

• Smoking
• Chronic pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
• Inherited conditions (including hereditary pancreatitis)
• Familial pancreatic cancer syndromes
• Long-standing diabetes

WebMD also reports a handful of symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes)
• Pain in the upper or middle abdomen and back
• Unexplained weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue
• Depression

You can reach the author by email john@benzinga.com or on twitter @johndthorpe. To comment on this (or any of my columns), visit my user page at Benzinga.