Jobs joined recently announced Nobel Prize winner Ralph Steinman , actor Patrick Swayze and football great Gene Upshaw as the latest bold-faced name to die from this aggressive disease—one that even he, with his vast fortune, and Steinman, with his use of experimental immunological treatments, could not forestall indefinitely. Most pancreatic cancers 53 percent are diagnosed after they have spread—and those have an exceedingly low survival rate, with just 1. For all types of the cancer, the average five-year survival rate when diagnosed is only slightly higher at 3.
So how did Jobs, who was diagnosed in the fall of —and who revealed it publicly in —manage to survive for eight years? Jobs had a rare form of the cancer, known as neuroendocrine cancer, which grows more slowly and is easier to treat, explains Leonard Saltz , acting chief of the gastrointestinal oncology service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Steinman, on the other hand, did have the type that is usually fatal within a year after diagnosis.
Given the grim prognosis for both these forms of cancer, researchers are hard at work trying to develop better treatments and diagnostics , and to figure out just why one patient might live for eight years—and another for eight months. Two different kinds Pancreatic cancer is a rare disease, with about 44, new cases diagnosed in the U. The vast majority of those cancers—some 95 percent—are known as adenocarcinomas, the sort that Steinman had.
Jobs's form, known as pancreatic neuroendrocrine tumor pNET , makes up the small fraction of other pancreatic cancer sufferers. The pancreas itself is essentially two different organs, which means two distinct kinds of tissue—and two very different types of cancer, Saltz points out. The most common kind of pancreatic cancer, the adenocarcinomas, originate in what is known as the exocrine portion of the pancreas. This is the main mass of the organ, which makes digestive enzymes that get shuttled to the gastrointestinal tract via specialized ducts.
It was a cancer of these islet cells that Jobs had. Difficult to diagnose Pancreatic cancer is so deadly in large part because it is often caught at a very late stage. Unlike lung or colon cancer, it does not create a lot of early symptoms. Saltz said he was hesitant to even list the manifestations which include upper abdominal pain, weight loss, appetite loss and blood clots because they are such common complaints that, he noted, everyone would go home and decide by this evening that they had pancreatic cancer.
Most cases are discovered after some symptoms persist or more severe indications, such as jaundice, occur.
Some groups are looking for a better way to screen for pancreatic cancer, in hopes of catching it earlier. They have found a couple of genetic markers that are present in pancreatic cancer but not in normal tissue.
In addition to direct patient support, PanCAN also funds and conducts research to better understand, diagnose and treat all types of pancreatic cancer. Research progress made in the lab and clinic is necessary to help patients feel better and live longer. A growing list of people in the public spotlight have faced pancreatic cancer, including tech innovators, entrepreneurs and influencers.
In addition, and connected to Jobs, Jef Raskin, developer of the Macintosh computer, passed away of pancreatic cancer in And, coincidentally, Dag Kittlaus , creator of Siri, which was acquired by Apple in , was diagnosed with the same exact cancer that took the life of Jobs.
If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, contact PanCAN Patient Services at All About Genetic and Biomarker Testing. No one should face pancreatic cancer alone. Learn how we can support you. Mon — Fri, 7 a. Lo explained that clinicians still rely on a combination of chemotherapy, surgery, radiofrequency ablation, and chemoembolization to fight the disease and its metastases.
Recently, two small-molecule drugs, everolimus Afinitor and sunitinib Sutent , have been approved for treating the disease , and some clinicians have been using bevacizumab Avastin off-label. Jobs, who founded Apple in with Steve Wozniak, left the company in after corporate power struggles. He subsequently headed Pixar Animation Studies, helping to shape it into a top production house responsible for pop culture classics like "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo.
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