What is pancreatic cancer?

Pancreatic cancer is one of the more common malignant tumor, its incidence and mortality in recent years, increased significantly. The United States pancreatic cancer incidence rate of 10/10 million, 75 years of age or older as high as 100/10 million people die each year from pancreatic cancer by about two thousand people. Japan in 1974 of pancreatic cancer mortality in 1970 increased by 5-fold, and lung cancer, similar to the tendency to increase mortality.

     Domestic incidence of pancreatic cancer has gradually increased the rate of the trend, according to statistics of Shanghai, the incidence of pancreatic cancer in 1963 as a 1.16/10 million, ranking No. 20 the body of malignant tumors in 1977, 3.80/10 million, jumping to a vicious tumor No. 12; 6.92/10 million in 1982 increased 6-fold in 1963, jumping to the first eight malignant (male) and 12 (female).

     The disease incidence in male than in female, male to female ratio of 1.5 ~ 2:1, male patients more common than pre-menopausal women, the incidence of post-menopausal women similar to men.

     Pancreatic cancer occur in the old, middle-aged, but the young are not completely spared. According to statistics of Shanghai: 50 ~ 59-year-old age group the highest incidence rates, followed by 60 ~ 69-year-old group, the minimum age was 24 years old, maximum age 79 years with an average of 53.5 years, 40 to 69 years old accounted for 86.2%. Zhanjiang Medical College Hospital inpatient January 1981 ~ December 1990 treated a total of 2743 cases of digestive cancer patients, of which 121 cases of pancreatic cancer, with an average age of onset of 49.53 years.