PANCREATIC cancer is one of the malignancies that have increased in incidence remarkably in the second half of the 20th century. About 6,000 people die from it each year in the UK and it now ranks eighth as a cause of death from cancer in this country.

It attacks more women than men, but this gender difference disappears once allowance is made for women's greater expectation of life for cancer of the pancreas becomes increasingly common with age and over half of patients with it when it is first diagnosed are over 70.

Cancer of the pancreas is likelier if someone has previously suffered from pancreatitis, is diabetic or has been a smoker.

Cancer of the pancreas is initially without any symptoms. Later, the patient may notice weight loss, extreme and exceptional tiredness, as well as abdominal pain that classically radiates through to the back when the patient stands upright. This pain is eased if the patient leans forward or when they sit.

Pavarotti is fortunate that surgeons have been able to cut out his cancer.

Ninety-five per cent of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed only after they have grown or spread to an extent that their removal is impossible.

The outlook for any specific patient depends on the speed with which it is being diagnosed, the part of the pancreas in which it is growing and its microscopic appearance. Overall, the prognosis for pancreatic cancer is poor and it is one of the most dreaded tumours in medicine. There are exceptions.

The neuroendocrine tumours carry a good prognosis if they are removed early and likewise one or two other sites for the tumour have a better outlook than the majority of the cancers.

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