It’s a somber brew today.  Without the caffeinated enthusiasm of it’s usual posts, Medical Barista reports today on the death of actor Patrick Swayze.  Swayze died last night after battling pancreatic cancer since January of 2008.  Swayze was diagnosed already having metastatic disease, meaning the cancer had already spread to other parts of the body at the time it was discovered – a bad prognostic sign.  He was treated with chemotherapy and initially responded; however, complications from the chemotherapy took their toll on Swayze, landing him in the hospital for pneumonia last January. He recovered from the pneumonia, but was informed in April that his cancer continued to invade other organ systems, including his liver.

What could have caused this horrible disease?  Well, at least one known risk factor for pancreatic cancer was among Swayze’s vices — smoking.  Smoking more than doubles one’s risk of pancreatic cancer.  Swayze was known to be a chain smoker.  Although alcohol is not directly linked to pancreatic cancer, patients who develop cirrhosis from alcohol intake or hepatitis are at increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.  Swayze was a recovering alcoholic, but there are no reports that he had developed cirrhosis from it.  For other risk factors for pancreatic cancer, check out the oncologychannel.com.  And for more info on Patrick Swayze, take a look at his Wikipedia page.

Tags: celebrities, pancreatic cancer

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 6:48 am and is filed under Entertainment, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.