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it's a human tendency
to want to avoid thinking about unpleasant subjects.
from the moment we heard that my father had it
we knew the end was near. we just didn't know how near.
unfortunately at that time a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer
was a death sentence. he end up having this
hidden within the pancreas and
unfortunately he passed away in about three months. given my family history
I wanted to see a real expert and fortunately at the University Virginia
we have a number of people focusing on pancreatic cancer and they're some of the
best in the country and the world.
our goal is to detect patients before they
either develop cancer or when they have early cancer.
there are multiple risk factors for pancreatic cancer
one of the primary ones is a pancreatic cystic lesion.
those or premalignant lesions that can develop in the pancreatic cancer
other strong factors include a family history pancreatic cancer
chronic pancreatitis, familial pancreatitis
and then certain modifiable risk factors. I underwent some tests including an MRI
and sure enough we found some
anomalies in the pancreas that
suggested that this needed to be very carefully monitored
we're really excited about the high-risk pancreatic cancer clinic
this is an opportunity to provide care for patients who are at high risk for
pancreatic cancer
with the idea of screening them and detecting the disease before it develops
or at the early stages when it's treatable this includes a detailed
history
a physical exam, an in-depth family history to
determine there risk and then an individualized screening program
based upon their risk profile. the options for screening include in endoscopic ultrasound
which gives a very detailed
look up close at the pancreas to detect small lesions
MRI scan which is an imaging study
it doesn't involve radiation that can be used repeatedly over time
and then genetics counseling and screening the final piece at the clinic offers
is risk modification. the great news is
we can do something about it today. we have to be aware
of the possibilities and we have to seek the right expertise
but today there's a lot more hope than there was in
time with my father got pancreatic cancer