
Pancreatic Cancer
Known Symptoms
- Early-stage: Often asymptomatic or nonspecific (e.g., vague abdominal discomfort, malaise).
- Locally advanced/metastatic:
- Obstructive jaundice (dark urine, pale stools, pruritus) due to bile duct compression.
- Unexplained weight loss, anorexia, new-onset diabetes.
- Epigastric pain radiating to the back (suggesting retroperitoneal invasion).
- Courvoisier’s sign (palpable gallbladder without tenderness).
- Red flags: Thrombophlebitis migrans (Trousseau’s syndrome). Metastatic signs (e.g., ascites, supraclavicular lymphadenopathy).
Known Causes
- Imaging: Multiphasic CT abdomen (pancreatic protocol): Gold standard for detection, staging, and resectability assessment.
- MRI/MRCP: Better characterization of cystic lesions and biliary anatomy.
EUS (endoscopic ultrasound): High sensitivity for small tumors, allows fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. - Tumor markers: CA19-9 (elevated in ∼80% of cases; used for monitoring, not screening).
- Histopathology: FNA or core biopsy (via EUS or CT-guided) for confirmation.
- Staging: TNM system; categorized as resectable, borderline resectable, locally advanced, or metastatic.
Care
- Imaging: Multiphasic CT abdomen (pancreatic protocol): Gold standard for detection, staging, and resectability assessment.
- MRI/MRCP: Better characterization of cystic lesions and biliary anatomy.
EUS (endoscopic ultrasound): High sensitivity for small tumors, allows fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. - Tumor markers: CA19-9 (elevated in ∼80% of cases; used for monitoring, not screening).
- Histopathology: FNA or core biopsy (via EUS or CT-guided) for confirmation.
- Staging: TNM system; categorized as resectable, borderline resectable, locally advanced, or metastatic.
- Early-stage: Often asymptomatic or nonspecific (e.g., vague abdominal discomfort, malaise).
- Locally advanced/metastatic:
- Obstructive jaundice (dark urine, pale stools, pruritus) due to bile duct compression.
- Unexplained weight loss, anorexia, new-onset diabetes.
- Epigastric pain radiating to the back (suggesting retroperitoneal invasion).
- Courvoisier’s sign (palpable gallbladder without tenderness).
- Red flags: Thrombophlebitis migrans (Trousseau’s syndrome). Metastatic signs (e.g., ascites, supraclavicular lymphadenopathy).
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Royal Bahrain Hospital, Salmaniya

Royal Bahrain Hospital, Salmaniya
Orthopedics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Urology, General Surgery, Cardiology and Plastic Surgery
93
Doctors
77
Beds
15
Services
2011
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