5 ways to screen pancreatic cancer and control the disease with the combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine

Pancreatic cancer has always been called the “king of cancer” because many patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage and are difficult to treat. However, Guo Shifang, director of the Department of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine at the Chi Mei Medical Center in Taiwan, said in the New Tang Dynasty’s “Health 1+1” program that if a tumor is found in the pancreas, don’t worry too much because it may be benign and the disease can be effectively controlled through the combination of Chinese and Western medicine.

Methods of screening for pancreatic cancer

The pancreas is deep in the abdomen, hidden behind the stomach, so pancreatic lesions are not easy to detect. Guo Shifang introduced the current methods of screening for pancreatic cancer, which mainly include the following five methods:

1. Abdominal ultrasound: This is the simplest examination. It has a higher detection rate for tumors in the head of the pancreas, but a lower detection rate for the body and tail.

2. Serum tumor marker test: For people who do not often undergo health checks, they can first have their blood drawn. If any abnormalities are found, further examinations should be performed immediately.

3. Endoscopic ultrasound: When the endoscope is advanced to the duodenum in the abdomen, the lesion at the head of the pancreas can be seen sideways. If necessary, a biopsy can be performed.

4. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatic duct X-ray examination ( ERCP ): While using an endoscope, contrast agent is injected into the bile duct and pancreatic duct for X-ray imaging to find the location of the tumor.

5. CT examination: This is the most extensive and accurate examination. For example, from the CT image, we can see that there is a dark shadow in the head of the pancreas, which may be a tumor, and further examination and diagnosis are needed. The head of the pancreas is close to the outlet of the liver and gallbladder. If there is a tumor in the head of the pancreas, it will block the outlet of the bile duct and may cause jaundice.

Benign pancreatic tumor

Guo Shifang said that if a pancreatic tumor is found, do not worry too much, because it may be a benign tumor, generally including the following 4 types of situations: