Tuesday 5th January 2021 We are delighted to announce that the new Managing Physical Effects course is now available on GatewayC. According to Macmillan, at least 1 in 4 patients will experience consequences of their cancer or treatment that affect their quality of...
Monday 4th January 2021 2020 certainly provided challenges and many new learning opportunities for primary care professionals across England. With this in mind, we have rounded up some of our most popular 2020 tips. Take a look below! COVID-19 and neutropenic sepsis...
Potential pitfall: Jaundice can be a classic symptom of pancreatic cancer; about half of patients have jaundice when they first go to their GP. Yet, pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose as symptoms can vary or may be late, vague and non-specific. Helpful hint:...
Potential pitfall: Faecal calprotectin testing is an incredibly sensitive investigation for detecting the presence of inflammation. It is raised in a wide variety of conditions including malignancy, inflammatory bowel disease and alcohol misuse. It is therefore not...
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.