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Home / Medical Services / Cancer / Oncology / Cancer Types / Pancreatic Cancer / Pancreas Overview

Pancreas Overview

Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic Cancer

What Is the Pancreas?

Most people don't think about their pancreas throughout their lives until something goes wrong, so here are some of the basics.

The pancreas is an organ/gland in the upper abdomen, behind the stomach.  It extends from the right side of the abdomen to the left, connecting to the intestine, called the duodenum, just after the stomach. The pancreas drains digestive juices (enzymes) into the intestine, where it also meets the bile duct draining bile from the liver.

The pancreas has two major functions:  it aids in digestion with the enzymes mentioned above, which break down food to absorb nutrients (the exocrine pancreas), and it helps regulate blood sugar levels (the endocrine pancreas).

Pancreas Illustration

What Is Pancreatic Cancer?

Cancer occurs with the transformation of normal cells of the pancreas to begin abnormal growth. There are different types of cancer that can occur in the various cells of the pancreas. The most common is adenocarcinoma, or ductal adenocarcinoma, which accounts for 90% of pancreatic cancer. Most of the information available for pancreatic cancer refers to this type. There are various other types of tumors from the different cell types of the pancreas, and each tumor type behaves somewhat differently. Tumors can also arise from the endocrine cells of the pancreas - neuroendocrine tumors. These tumors can be nonfunctioning or sometimes release hormones or chemicals that cause symptoms or illnesses, such as insulin-releasing tumors that can cause very low blood sugar levels.