Discover The Symptoms
Where to begin?
The National Cancer Institute is a reliable source for basic information about pancreatic cancer and treatment. It is an excellent place to begin your research on the disease.
You can find information on the National Cancer Institute’s website, cancer.org.
Cancer Types – Pancreatic Cancer gives specific information on pancreatic cancer, including a overview of the disease, treatment options, a listing of drug and clinical trials as well as details on causes and prevention, screening protocols, and resources for coping with the disease.
There are two major types of pancreatic cancer; Adenocarcinoma (95% of the cases) & Neuroendocrine (5% of cases).
The National Institutes of Health is an agency of the federal government that was created by Congress in 1937. It conducts, coordinates and promotes research on the causes, diagnoses, treatment and prevention of cancer. It funds research at leading public and private institutions and draws expertise from researchers in the United States and abroad.LEARN ABOUT SYMPTOMS AND RISK FACTORS FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN: LEARN YOUR SYMPTOMS
Finding a doctor
Because we are located in southeast Michigan, we are well acquainted with a number of leading health providers that serve patients in the region and beyond. We recommend the Henry Ford Health System, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and the University of Michigan Health System. For help identifying doctors elsewhere, you may wish to turn to:
The American Society of Clinical Oncology, an association of 40,000 cancer doctors in the United States, maintains the website cancer.net.
This website has detailed information on pancreatic cancer overall and will help you locate a doctor in your area.
In addition, it provides an in-depth list of questions to ask when you meet with your doctor. That information can be found on the page, Pancreatic Cancer: Questions to ask the doctor and includes the following:
- Questions to ask after getting a diagnosis
- Questions to ask about choosing a treatment and managing side effects
- Questions to ask about having surgery
- Questions to ask about having radiation therapy
- Questions to ask about have chemotherapy
- Questions to ask about planning for follow up
Identifying an advocate
We urge all patients to identify an advocate who can help ask questions and process the answers. This is an overwhelming situation and another listener can be critical to capturing the information every patient and family needs. Choose a family member or friend who can go to appointments, take notes and recounts conversations with doctors.
The Sky Foundation offers the information above to help you navigate the health care system and find the doctor, treatment and support you need as you battle the disease. This is by no means a complete list; we offer it with the hope that it may be useful to you or your loved ones. Our mission is to raise awareness and fund medical research for the early detection, prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancer.