Le pancreas is a digestive gland about 15 cm long, lodged deep in the abdomen, behind the stomach and enclosed in the duodenum which is the first part of the small intestine.

– It is involved in digestion by secreting enzymespancréatiques. This is its so-called function exocrine.

– It plays an essential role in regulating the level of glucose in the blood by its secretion of hormones such as insulin and glucagon. This is its function endocrine.

Le pancreatic cancer is due to the formation of a malignant tumor, that is to say the abnormal proliferation of cancer cells likely to spread elsewhere in the body. Over 95% of pancreatic tumors affect the area where the function is exocrine pancreas, that is to say, the one that makes the pancreatic enzymes necessary for digestion. These are usually adenocarcinomas. This sheet is devoted exclusively to this type of tumor.

This dossier does not deal with other forms of pancreatic cancer, which are less common, neuroendocrine tumors (2 to 3% of pancreatic tumors), cystadenocarcinoma (1% of pancreatic cancers), and others rarer such as pancreatoblastomas, malignant oncocytomas, acinar tumors, and various types of carcinomas.

Evolution and prevalence

Pancreatic cancer accounts for about 2% of new cancer cases detected each year in Canada. In France, the number of new cases of pancreatic cancer is estimated each year at around 9000. It concerns both men and women, and the vast majority of people aged 50 or over.