Call it a sneaky killer.

Pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect, and when found, is often too advanced for doctors to help.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 36,800 Americans lost their lives to pancreatic cancer last year, almost equally divided between men and women.

New cases last year are estimated to be slightly more than 43,000.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death for men and women, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Over the years, pancreatic cancer has claimed the lives of many famous people, including Patrick Swayze, Michael Landon, Donna Reed, Fred Gwynne, Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Crawford.

Aretha Franklin has been reported by numerous news organizations to have pancreatic cancer and in early December underwent surgery at a Detroit hospital. The 68-year-old Grammy winner suffered severe abdominal pains prior to her hospitalization in October. in a brief interview with “Billboard” earlier this month, Franklin said her unspecified illness has been resolved, but she has cancelled her scheduled concerts.

The pancreas is a 6-inch, pear-shaped organ that secretes digestive juices to process food and hormones – including insulin – to help the body use sugar.

Because of the location of the pancreas, on the inner side of the abdomen, close to the spine, it is difficult to detect a small tumor.

Also because of the location, it’s easy for the cancer to spread to other vital structures, like the liver or spine, or wrap itself around major arteries, preventing a surgical option, said Dr. Chung-Tsen Hsueh, a medical oncologist with Loma Linda University Medical Center.

African-Americans have higher pancreatic cancer rates and mortality rates than whites, the National Cancer Institute says. And this is not a young person’s disease – 70 percent of its victims are age 65 and older.

Cure rates are bleak. The overall five-year survival in the United States between 1999 and 2006 was just 5.6 percent.

There are two types of pancreatic cancers, said Hsueh. The most common, accounting for about 95 percent of cases, forms in the cells that line the ducts of the pancreas and help produce digestive juices.

The less common variety forms in the hormone-producing cells of the pancreas. this form tends to be a less aggressive cancer, Hsueh said.

In many pancreatic cancer cases, the patient has been a smoker and or involved in heavy alcohol use. A minority have a genetic trait which predisposes them to pancreatic cancer, Hsueh said.

Dr. Heinz-Joseph Lenz, professor of medicine and associate director of research at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, said from his perspective, risk factors for this form of cancer are not pronounced.

There are many nonsmokers who get it and many smokers who don’t, he said, adding that oftentimes the only alert that there’s pancreatic cancer is after the tumors have invaded neighboring structures.

This migration outside the pancreas can cause pain or other symptoms which prompts the patient to seek medical help.

Because of the location of the pancreas, this form of cancer can quickly go from being operable to inoperable. And even when surgical removal is still possible, there’s a good chance it will come back, Lenz said.

But there’s good news on the research front, he said. A vaccine is being tested to keep pancreatic cancer from returning after it has been removed.

And new antibodies are being tested to see if they can increase the effectiveness of existing chemotherapy treatments, he said.

jim.steinberg@inlandnewspapers.com 909-386-3855

PANCREATIC CANCER SYMPTOMS

Signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer often don’t occur until the disease is advanced. When signs and symptoms do appear, they may include:

• Upper abdominal pain that may radiate to the back

• Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)

• Loss of appetite

• Weight loss

• Depression

• Blood clots

Many diseases and conditions other than cancer may cause similar signs and symptoms, so your doctor may check for these conditions as well as for pancreatic cancer.

SOURCE: Mayo Clinic