Which pancreatic cells produce digestive enzymes

This is a general term that can refer to either benign or malignant growths. A painless procedure in which high frequency sound waves are used to generate pictures of the inside of the body. An ultrasound devise can be placed at the end of a scope, and the scope inserted into the duodenum, providing very detailed pictures of the pancreas. This is called "endoscopic ultrasound. A clot within the blood vessels. It may occlude block the vessel or may be attached to the wall of the vessel without blocking the blood flow.

An inflammation of the veins accompanied by thrombus formation. It is sometimes referred to as Trousseau's sign. Excessive amounts of fat in the stool. Sometimes this can appear as an oil slick on top of the toilet water after the patient has had a bowel movement.

It can be a sign that the pancreas isn't functioning well. A slender hollow tube inserted into the body to relieve a blockage. For example, pancreas cancers often grow into the bile duct as the bile duct passes through the pancreas.

This can block the flow of bile and cause the patient to become jaundiced. In these cases the flow of bile can be reestablished by placing a stent into the bile duct, through the area of blockage. A maroon colored, rounded organ in the upper left part of the abdomen, near the tail of the pancreas. This organ is part of your immune system and filters the lymph and blood in your body. It is often removed during the distal pancreatectomy surgical procedure. A flat, scale-like cell.

Although most pancreatic cancers look like ducts under the microscope, a small fraction look like squamous cells. A classification system that is used to describe the extent of disease. Clinicians use it to predict the likely survival of a patient.

A long 20 foot tube that stretches from the stomach to the large intestine. It helps absorb nutrients from food as the food is transported to the large intestine. There are three sections: the duodenum, the jejunum and the ileum. Due to its proximity to the pancreas, the duodenum is the section of the small intestine most often affected by pancreatic cancer. The use of high-energy waves similar to x-rays to treat a cancer. Radiation therapy is usually used to treat a local area of disease and often is given in combination with chemotherapy.

Able to be removed surgically. Usually this means that the cancer is confined to areas typically removed surgically. A malignant tumor that looks like connective tissues bone, cartilage, muscle under the microscope. Sarcomas are extremely rare in the pancreas. A cancer in the organ where it started in. A primary cancer of the pancreas is one that started in the pancreas as opposed to a cancer that started somewhere else and only later spread to the pancreas.

A forecast for the probable outcome of a disease based on the experience of large numbers of other patients with similar stage disease. Importantly, making a prognosis is not an exact science. Some patients with poor prognosis beat the odds and live longer than anyone would have predicted.

Steve Dunn's Cancer Guide has an excellent article on statistics and prognoses and stories of other cancer patients. A thick ring of muscle a sphincter between the stomach and duodenum. This sphincter helps control the release of the stomach contents into the small intestine. A medical doctor specially trained to study disease processes.

Pathologists make the microscopic diagnosis that is used to establish the diagnosis of cancer. Around the ampulla of Vater in the duodenum. The peri-ampullary region is comprised of 4 structures; the ampulla, the duodenum, the bile duct and the head of the pancreas. It is sometimes difficult to tell which structure a tumor originated in. In such cases the diagnosis will be a peri-ampullary tumor. The biochemical study of plants; concerned with the identification, biosynthesis, metabolism of chemical constituents of plants; especially in regards to natural products.

An oblong organ located between the stomach and the spine. The pancreas secretes enzymes needed for the digestion of food and it produces hormones such as insulin and glucagon which help control blood sugar. Any treatment that reduces the severity of a disease or its symptoms. Palliative care is often a part of the treatment plan for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. A term used to describe certain tumors which grow in finger-like projections.

Pathologists use this term to describe some precancerous lesions in the pancreas intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm. An abnormal new growth of tissue that grows more rapidly than normal cells and will continue to grow if not treated. These growths will compete with normal cells for nutrients.

This is a general term that can refer to benign or malignant growths. It is a synonym for the word tumor. A medical doctor who specializes in the treatment of tumors. Oncologists often treat patients with pancreatic cancer with chemotherapy. A surgically created opening in an organ that can also be referred to as an anastamosis. Sometimes when surgeons remove a segment of bowel they create an ostomy to allow for the bowel contents to exit the body.

A cancer that has spread from one organ to another. Pancreas cancer most frequently metastasizes to the liver. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy that is given to patients before surgery. Some centers feel that the use of neoadjuvant therapy improves local and regional control of disease and that it may make more patients surgical candidates. A cancer that has the potential of invading nearby tissues, spreading to other organs metastasizing and possibly leading to the patient's death.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. Common Health Topics. Biology of the Digestive System. Test your knowledge. Although aging does not affect the digestive system as much as it affects other organ systems, it can be a factor in several digestive system disorders. However, aging has only minor effects on the structure of which of the following parts of the digestive system? More Content. Pancreas By Atenodoro R.

Ruiz, Jr. Click here for the Professional Version. The pancreas is an organ that contains two types of glandular tissue:. There are other rarer forms of diabetes, some of which are inherited. In addition, people will get diabetes if their pancreas is taken away surgically or damaged for instance by severe pancreatitis. Very rarely, patients develop growths tumours of the cells that make up the islets of Langerhans. These may be benign tumours, where a particular kind of cell multiplies and makes large quantities of its hormone whether it is needed or not.

For example, if the tumour is made of insulin-producing cells, it is called an insulinoma. This is where too much insulin is produced when it is not required. This also happens with glucagon-producing cells, or a glucagonoma , which produces too much glucagon. These and other hormone-producing tumours in the pancreas are very rare, but endocrinology specialists have important parts to play in diagnosing patients with these tumours and contributing to their management and treatment.

The digestive cells of the pancreas can be involved in the condition known as pancreatitis. This is a very painful and serious condition caused by digestive enzymes 'leaking' into the pancreas itself and damaging the delicate tissues in and around it.

It is also possible for a tumour to develop in the part of the pancreas that produces the digestive juices that are released into the bowel. This condition is called pancreatic cancer. About Contact Events News. Search Search. You and Your Hormones. Students Teachers Patients Browse. Human body.