Test for Pancreatic Cancer

If your doctor suspects that you may have pancreatic cancer, he or she may ask you undergo one or more of the diagnostic tests for pancreatic cancer. These tests may include imaging tests, biopsy, blood tests, etc. Biopsy is the conclusive test that is required to make sure that you have cancer if other scanning tests show presence of cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is the cancer of pancreas. It shows few symptoms until the cancer is advanced. The symptoms may include abdominal pain, loss of weight, diarrhea, and jaundice.
Because of its tendency to spread silently before diagnosis, it is considered one of the deadliest cancers. More than 40,000 people are expected to die of the disease in 2017.

Types of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is classified according to the part of the pancreas that gets affected. There are several types of pancreatic cancer, such as:

• Exocrine Pancreatic Cancer
• Endocrine pancreatic cancer
• Adenosquamous carcinoma
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Giant cell carcinoma
• Acinar cell carcinoma
• Small cell carcinoma

Exocrine cancer is the most common of all the cancers of pancreas.

What are the tests for pancreatic cancer?
If a person shows signs and symptoms that might occur due to pancreatic cancer, the doctor may recommend certain tests to find the cause of the symptoms and rule out other problems and causes.

Based on the output of diagnostic tests, he or she will recommend treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Medical history and physical exam
Your doctor will ask you about medical history to know more about what might be the cause of the problem. He will discuss about possible risk factors and family history of cancer. He may examine your belly. He or she will check your skin and the whites of your eyes for jaundice yellowing.

Imaging tests
Imaging tests such as x-rays, magnetic fields-based imaging, Ultrasounds etc are used to generate pictures of what’s happening inside your body.

Imaging tests may be needed both before and after the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. These tests are done to:

• Find any suspicious area that might be cancerous
• Know if the cancer has spread to other parts
• Determine if treatment is working
• Identify signs of cancer returning back after the treatment has been done

Various types of imaging tests used to diagnose pancreatic cancer are:

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Ultrasound
• Cholangiopancreatography
• Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy
• Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
• Angiography

Blood tests
Various blood tests such as the following may be needed for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer:

• Liver function tests
• Tumor markers
• Other tests to evaluate a person’s general health such as kidney and bone marrow function.
• Blood tests for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Biopsy
If the person’s medical history, physical exam, and imaging tests suggest pancreatic cancer, then your doctor will do a conclusive test which is usually a biopsy. A small sample of tumor is taken and looked under the microscope in a biopsy. Biopsies can be done in different ways such as:

• Percutaneous (through the skin) biopsy
• Endoscopic biopsy
• Surgical biopsy