Researchers and clinicians at Nebraska Medicine and its academic partner, University of Nebraska Medical Center, believe pancreatic cancer can be detected in its earliest stages. That belief is so strong that in 2018, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved establishing the Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.

The pancreas connects to the small intestine and is located in the upper abdomen. It drains digestive enzymes into the small intestine to break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It also produces hormones and releases them into the blood.

Let’s get some things straight. You have choices. Cancer doesn’t take the ability to make choices away from you.

Pancreatic cancer is a genetic disease caused by changes or mutations in segments of DNA called genes. Genes carry the code or the instructions which tells the cells in the body how to grow and function. Mutations in certain genes can allow cells to grow in an uncontrolled way. 

At Nebraska Medicine we have an expert team that will help guide you and your family through the treatment. Below I have compiled a list of questions I recommend all my patients with pancreatic cancer ask their oncology team.

Like the disease itself, the treatment of pancreatic cancer is complex, and is strongly determined by a comprehensive evaluation of the disease at initial diagnosis.