Pancreatic Cancer is sometimes misdiagnosed as Autoimmune Pancreatitis

It has been reported that some patients have been misdiagnosed with Autoimmune Pancreatitis, when in fact the correct diagnosis in their specific case was Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is cancer that begins in your pancreas. Symptoms include abdominal pain that radiates to the back, loss of appetite or unintended weight loss, yellowing of the skin or eyes, light coloured stool, dark coloured urine, itchy skin, new diagnosis of diabetes or difficult to control existing diabetes, blood clots and fatigue. Pancreas cancer can be difficult to diagnose. This is because it doesn't usually cause many specific symptoms in the early stages, and symptoms can be quite vague. As such it can be misdiagnosed as conditions like autoimmune pancreatitis, and liver dysfunction.

Always consult your doctor or health professional, and do not self diagnose.

Symptoms can include:

Jaundice, light-coloured stools, dark-coloured urine, itchy skin, blood clots, fatigue, abdominal pain radiating to the back, loss of appetite, weight loss

Symptoms are a guideline only and may apply to either the diagnosis or the reported misdiagnosis, or both. Consult your specialist for further information.

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