Pancreatic Cancer: The Cancer That Took Steve Jobs’ Life

<p>Steve Jobs is a name that is synonymous with Apple, iPhone, and perhaps even Pixar. He may be well known for co-founding Apple in his parents’ garage and being a tech visionary who transformed the world with the introduction of the iPhone. But Steve Jobs’ battle with pancreatic cancer may be what people remember his last moments to be. </p> <p>Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest of all cancers. Sadly, even the brilliant innovator, with his vast wealth and access to new experimental treatments, was unable to get ahead of this highly aggressive, and often rapidly fatal cancer. Jobs’ death from complications of pancreatic cancer only hints at the complexity of the disease.</p> <p>So, what can we learn about pancreatic cancer from Steve Jobs?</p> <h3>Pancreatic Cancer: What is it?</h3> <p>Pancreatic cancer, although a terrifying disease, is rare. In the US, about 62,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer per year and about 50,000 people die of the disease. It is considered one of the most lethal of all cancers with only 3-6% of patients who can expect to survive five years after their diagnosis. </p> <p>Because of the location of the pancreas - behind your stomach and in front of your spine - pancreatic cancer is extremely difficult to detect early and is often diagnosed in more advanced stages of the disease. This is because pancreatic cancer, unlike lung or colon cancer, doesn’t cause symptoms right away. And when symptoms do manifest, they are often such common complaints that it can resemble other conditions. </p> <figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn.storymd.com/optimized/RoeMkbTaov/thumbnail.jpg" /> <figcaption><em>© 2018 Terese Winslow LLC, U.S. Govt. has certain rights</em></figcaption> </figure> <h3>The Bad and the Worse Types of Pancreatic Cancer </h3> <p>Like many others, Jobs’ cancer was only detected by chance. During a CT scan while looking for kidney stones, his doctors noticed a ‘dark shadow’ on his pancreas. Although it was not good news, the bright side was that the form of pancreatic cancer Jobs was diagnosed with was the less aggressive kind. </p> <p>Because the pancreas is made up of two distinct kinds of tissues, two different types of cancers can form in the pancreas based on the kind of cell they start in. The 2 types of pancreatic cancer, the bad and the worse, are: </p> <ol> <li><b>Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor (pNETs)</b>. This is a rare form that is slow growing with a better prognosis where survival can be measured in years or even decades. </li> <li><b>Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.</b> This is the ‘garden variety’, highly aggressive, and often rapidly fatal type, in which survival is often measured in mere months.  </li> </ol> <p>Steve Jobs was diagnosed with the rarer form of the cancer, pNET, which accounts for only 7% of all pancreatic cancer tumors. pNETs are oftentimes easier to treat and have the potential to be cured surgically if the tumor is removed before metastasis (i.e. starts to spread). However, in Jobs’ case, he initially made the decision to forego the life-saving surgery, electing to try alternative therapies (e.g. acupuncture, dietary supplements, and juice cleanse diets), a decision he reportedly regrets. Although Jobs ultimately embraced the surgery, it was after the tumor had already spread to his liver, at which point, his prognosis turned from bad to terminal. </p> <p>Another high-profile patient of pancreatic cancer was Patrick Swayze. Sadly, unlike Jobs, he was diagnosed with <i>the worse </i>type, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and only lived for 20 months after his diagnosis. </p> <figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn.storymd.com/optimized/PApN2btvd5/thumbnail.jpg" /> <figcaption><em>© 2016 Terese Winslow LLC, U.S. Govt. has certain rights</em></figcaption> </figure> <h3>The Silver-Lining</h3> <p>A cancer diagnosis is never good news, especially if you’re told that is it a highly aggressive type of cancer. However, given the grim prognosis for both these types of pancreatic cancer, the silver-lining is that researchers have been furiously trying to develop better treatments and diagnostic tools, in hopes of increasing patient survival rates and detecting it at an earlier stage. </p> <p>Researchers have found a couple of genetic markers that are present in pancreatic cancer that can be used to detect pancreatic cancer tumor cells. Meaning that, it may soon be possible to screen people for pancreatic cancer using a small sample of blood. Although it may be too late for Steve Jobs and Patrick Swayze, this can potentially be lifesaving for the many thousands of people that will be diagnosed with this terrifying disease. </p> <blockquote> <h2>Fast Facts:</h2> <ul> <li>Survival for most cancers has improved over the past 50 years, but <b>not for pancreatic cancer.</b> </li> <li>Just <b>3-6% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for five years</b> – making it the lowest survival rate of all cancers. </li> <li>Diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is <b>nearly always too late with 80% </b>of pancreatic cancer patients having an average <b>life expectancy of a mere 3 to 6 months</b>.</li> </ul> </blockquote> <h2>More on Pancreatic Cancer</h2><ul><li><a href="https://soulivity.storymd.com/journal/dmqppl9hew-pancreatic-cancer" target="_blank">Pancreatic Cancer: Risk Factors, Treatment, Prognosis</a></li><li><a href="https://soulivity.storymd.com/journal/zjb7gpzt2m-childhood-pancreatic-cancer" target="_blank">Pancreatic Cancer in Children: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment</a></li><li><a href="https://soulivity.storymd.com/journal/j3ybe6btaw-pancreas" target="_blank">The Pancreas: Anatomy and Function</a></li></ul>