If a person is suffering from acute or chronic problems of the pancreas, then back pain is one of the most common symptoms of the same. It has been seen that the pancreas can lead to severe health problems and these are often signs of pancreatic cancer. There are many researches and surveys conducted in this reference which reveal that it is very difficult to diagnose pancreatic cancer. This happens so because the pancreas is so deep within the body.
Also the symptoms of these pancreas problems vary depending on the exact location of the tumor in the pancreas. Another factor here depends on which cells or function of the pancreas is affected by the tumor or cancer. It is very common to have pancreatic cancer or tumor and identifying the regular symptoms of the same is one of the best methods for treating and preventing the problem. The pancreatic tumor or cancer is principally a disease affecting middle-aged and older patients.
However this may not always be the case and the diagnosis can be missed in younger patients. It has been seen that some of the commonest form of pancreatic cancers include the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This form of cancer is so deadly, that there are hardly any other such rarer forms. The endocrine tumors that affect the younger patients have a much better treatment procedure due to surgery and chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
But it has also been seen that there are frequently no symptoms of these forms of cancer at the very early stages. The tumor may have grown significantly even before the patient is able to understand some of the symptoms related to this form of cancer. For example, even though back pain is a symptom of pancreatic cancers, most people assume it to be caused due to tiredness or muscle pull or other similar reasons. Hence the symptoms of pancreatic cancer can also be quite vague and non specific.
So there are instances when the cancer may be caused by many other more common and less serious conditions. However the delay in diagnosis is also caused as the physician is trying to rule out other causes including hepatitis, gall stones, irritable bowel syndrome and stress. The other symptoms of pancreatic cancers also vary and not everyone has every symptom. Basically the symptoms of cancer depend very much on the location of the tumor in the pancreas.
For example jaundice has been assumed as an early sign of a tumor in the head of the pancreas. This also affects the bile duct and back pain along with this some of the other symptoms of pancreatic problems include pain in the back, general discomfort or pain around the stomach area, bowel problems, skin itching, diabetes, upper abdominal pain, etc. There is also a lot of nausea and vomiting in chronic pancreatitis followed by malnutrition, weight loss and insulin-dependent diabetes.
Hence it is vital that back pain or any of the other related symptoms of pancreas should not be taken lightly and adequate measures should be taken to get the right diagnosis here.