At 48, Chris Sibson did not imagine himself in the least sick. Sportsman, married and father still young … Everything was fine for him. But a consultation and a diagnosis later, man is faced with a harsh reality: possible diabetes, then inoperable pancreatic cancer.
Minus 5 kilos in six weeks
It all started in May 2024. Chris feels good but something concerns him. “”I had lost about 5 kg in six weeks without effort. I also felt tired during the day, but I was taking a nap and I felt good ” he explains to Sun. But his more worried wife leaves him not the choice. Direction the doctor.
After routine analyzes, the latter is alarmed by the blood sugar level of Chris and concludes that a type 1 or 2 diabetes despite an absence of prediabetic symptoms. “As soon as I started to take the medication, I started to feel even worse” Add the quarantine. And for good reason: the blood sugar level actually hid another, more serious cause.
A tumor on the pancreas, which returns more aggressive
Other medical examinations then reveal pancreatic cancer diagnosed late. To increase his chances of survival, we remove from Chris his tumor as well as half of his pancreas and his spleen. Unfortunately, twelve chemotherapy cycles later, cancer returns much more aggressively in an inoperable form.
Today, the forties follows a treatment composed of chemotherapy and radiotherapy aimed at reducing the tumor and prolonging his life expectancy as much as possible, knowing that this type of cancer is characterized by a sad prognosis. “I really hope it will work. I will then undergo a new generation sequencing to identify the alterations of my tumor” testifies the father.
Pancreatic cancer: a silent and formidable disease
Pancreas cancer is one of the most difficult to diagnose cancers. Indeed, the first signs are often very discreet and appear late, once the tumor has already developed outside the pancreas.
From what we see today, at the beginning, the disease manifests itself by vague pain behind the stomach, a loss of appetite or unusual fatigue. But also signs of compression: the tumor mass compresses the neighboring organs (bile duct, stomach, duodenum, nerves, blood vessels). And signs of secretory insufficiency: the pancreas produces fewer digestive enzymes, causing fatty diarrhea (steatorrhea). When the endocrine part of the pancreas is affected, it can also cause diabetes suddenly.
To these major symptoms can be added a jaundice (jaundice), especially in cancers located at the head of the pancreas, intense abdominal and back pain. Unexplained weight loss, nausea, digestive disorders and persistent fatigue.
As the early signs are commonplace and easily attributed to other causes, the diagnosis often occurs late. According to Dr. Olivier Marty, gastroenterologist at the Saint-Joseph (Paris) hospital:
“The pancreas is located deeply in the abdomen, which makes it difficult to explore. And the early symptoms are too trivialized”.
Consequence: in almost one in two cases, cancer is discovered at an inoperable stage. Even when the tumor is located, around 30 % of patients cannot be operated on because it is too close to vital blood vessels.
A disturbing progression in France and in Europe
In addition, with nearly 15,000 new cases each year in France, pancreatic cancer is already the second most common digestive cancer after that of the colon. And the trend is upwards. In Europe, it could soon become the second deadliest cancer after that of the lung.
Among the risk factors identified: tobacco, diabetes, obesity, chronic pancreatitis and a diet too rich in fats or ultra-transformed products. Recent works also suggest a link with exposure to pesticides.
The prognosis remains dark: only 7 % of patients survive five years after the diagnosis. Hence the importance of reacting to the slightest intriguing symptom. “”Knowing the signs, even discreet, is already a first step towards an earlier diagnosis “ concludes our expert.