Monday 18th January 2021 GatewayC have produced a list of cancer charity support lines for people who may be worried about their cancer diagnosis, or are concerned about how COVID-19 might affect their cancer treatment. Please download this PDF resource or find the...
15th January 2021 Missed our free GatewayC webinar on Diagnosing Ovarian Cancer? Watch our recording here. In this webinar, GatewayC met Professor Gordon Jayson, Professor of Medical Oncology at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, who answered key questions from our...
Neutropenic sepsis is a potentially fatal complication of anticancer treatment (particularly chemotherapy). Helpful hint: NICE have produced a COVID-19 rapid guideline on the delivery of systemic anticancer treatments. If patients present with COVID-19 symptoms this...
Potential pitfall: In the early course of the disease, pancreatic cancer may not cause any signs or symptoms. However, sudden onset diabetes in groups of patients for whom this would be unexpected can be an early indicator. Helpful hint: NICE NG12 guidelines recommend...
Pancreatic cancer diagnoses can be missed due to the non-site specific nature of some early symptoms. However, according to CRUK, up to 70% of patients with pancreatic cancer initially visit the doctor with upper abdominal or back pain.
Pain often presents in the right upper quadrant (RUQ pain). It can begin as general discomfort, such as pressure under the ribs or pain in the abdomen radiating to the back, similar to a pulled muscle or stomach cramps. Patients may note that sitting forward can sometimes relieve the pain but can worsen when lying down or after eating, especially with fatty foods.
In line with NICE guidelines, the presentation of back or abdominal pain in people aged 60 and over combined with weight loss should be considered for an urgent direct access CT scan to assess for pancreatic cancer (to be performed within 2 weeks), or an urgent ultrasound scan if CT is not available.
Download this Cancer Key here.
Access GatewayC’s course on early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer here.