The Siteman Cancer Center, a division of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, wants to remind the public that it offers screenings for people at risk for pancreatic cancer.
Monday’s death of 57-year-old Patrick Swayze has garnered new attention for the disease, the fourth deadliest cancer. Swayze died 20 months after diagnosis.

The American Cancer Society says that pancreatic cancer kills because it most often goes undetected until it’s beyond cure. That’s because it doesn’t leave markers in the blood stream that can signal trouble. So the only alternative is looking directly at the pancreas with two forms of electronic imaging.

But that’s expensive. And the cancer is less common – fewer than 45,000 diagnoses a year (compared to around 200,000 a year each for cancers of the lungs, breast or prostate). So the Cancer Society and cancer centers recommend screening only for people in high-risk groups – people with parents, siblings or children who have had the disease, those who have genetic markers linked to the disease and people bad habits such as heavy smoking. The hospital bills insurance companies for the screening if someone qualifies as high risk. 

For more information call 800-600-3606.

THE PANCREAS: The pancreas produces hormones needed to metabolize nutrients in your blood stream. The most important is insulin, which tells your cells that it’s time to eat.

THE CANCER: The American Cancer Society estimates that 42,470 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year. About 35,000 people are believed to have died from pancreatic cancer last year, says the Cancer Society.