What is pancreatic cancer?
Pancreatic cancer is cancer that starts in the pancreas. Find out about the pancreas, how common pancreatic cancer is and who gets it
https://about-cancer.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/all/themes/custom/about_cancer/favicon.ico
The pancreas is a leaf shaped organ tucked under the liver, close to the gallbladder, stomach and bowel.

It is part of both the digestive and endocrine systems.

The pancreas lies across your body just behind your stomach. It is about 15 centimetres long.

The pancreas has three parts.

The wide end is called the head.

The middle is called the body.

The thin end is called the tail.

The pancreas is a large gland. It makes hormones which regulate the level of sugar in your blood. One of these hormones is Insulin. This is the endocrine function of the pancreas.

The pancreas also makes digestive juices

The juices flow down a tube called the pancreatic duct into the first part of the small bowel.

The bile duct joins the small bowel right next to the pancreatic duct.

The place where the 2 ducts join and meet the bowel is called the ampulla of Vater.

Digestive juices contain enzymes that help you to break down food in the bowel.

This is called the exocrine function of the pancreas.

Cancer that starts in the cells that make digestive juices is called exocrine pancreatic cancer. This is the most common type of pancreatic cancer.

Cancers that start in the cells that make insulin and other hormones, are called endocrine pancreatic cancers or Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours.

Close to the pancreas there are lymph nodes that are part of our immune system and help us fight infections.

Lymph nodes are often the first place cancer cells reach when they break away from a tumour.

For information about pancreatic cancer go to cruk.org/cancer-types