Why pancreatic cancer is so deadly

Why pancreatic cancer is so deadly

 

Alex Trebek, the genial "Jeopardy!" host with all the answers and a reassuring presence in the TV game-show landscape for five decades, died on Sunday, more than a year after he announced he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old.   Earlier this year, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, and US Rep. John Lewis died months after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis.   In all, pancreatic cancer was the third-leading cause of death from cancer in the United States in 2018, after lung and colorectal cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.   About 95% of people with pancreatic cancer die from it, experts say. It's so lethal because during the early stages, when the tumor would be most treatable, there are usually no symptoms. It tends to be discovered at advanced stages when abdominal pain or jaundice may result. At present, there are no general screening tools.