Clinical History and Risk Factors of Pancreatic Cancer

The major problem in diagnosing pancreatic carcinoma is the lack of disease-specific early symptoms, the more so because symptoms that potentially indicate malignant disease can be hard to distinguish from nonspecific ones. Pancreatic cancer therefore frequently emerges at an advanced stage. Numerous tumor-associated parameters have an impact on the clinical appearance of affected patients. Besides impaired exocrine and endocrine pancreatic functions, which consecutively result in digestive disorders and diabetes, the tumor invasion into intrapancreatic and extrapancreatic nerval plexus results in progressive pain. Furthermore, tumor invasion into adjacent organs causes intestinal obstruction and jaundice. In contrast with pancreatic cancer, neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas characteristically prompt more specific symptoms, if hormonally active. These will be briefly outlined in this context. In addition to the clinical symptoms, this chapter reports on identified risk factors of pancreatic cancer.