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Lying about Pancreatic Cancer?
I met a girl that said she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in an early stage. When asking about her treatment, she said she went straight to radiation – while avoiding surgery, and chemotherapy… This seems extremely unrealistic for pancreatic cancer. Thoughts?
She also mentioned something about taking pills during radiation that make her sick.
You say ‘girl’, so I assume this is a very young person we are talking about? Possibly a teenager?
I have no knowledge of this person’s condition, of course, but I can tell you a few facts about pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is VERY uncommon indeed in people under 40.
80% of those diagnosed with it are over 60, and 63% are over 70.
Pancreatic cancer caught at an early stage would almost certainly be treated first by surgery, unless the patient was too old or frail to cope with such surgery
Radiotherapy (radiation) is used much less than surgery or chemotherapy to treat pancreatic cancer; In fact radiotherapy is not often used to treat pancreatic cancer at all. . But it may be used if it isn’t possible to completely remove the pancreatic cancer with surgery, or if the patient is not fit enough to have a long operation. Radiotherapy on its own is very unlikely to cure pancreatic cancer, but is sometimes used in addition to surgery and chemotherapy to shrink it or slow its growth.
So you’re right – the story she has told you is very unlikely indeed.