Cancer Tends to Hit Harder For Parents
- Devoted father Mark Ryan, 37, started experiencing “severe” back and abdominal pain in January. Doctors initially thought he might have celiac disease, an autoimmune condition where your body attacks your own tissues when you eat gluten.
- However, after more tests, the dad-of-three finally found out in March that his symptoms were caused by advanced stage prostate cancer.
- The business development manager in Herfortshire, England, is much younger than most pancreatic cancer patients, lives a healthy lifestyle, and has no family history of cancer that he knows of.
- At this advanced stage, Mark’s doctors are just trying to help him manage the disease with chemotherapy, and although surgery was not an option at first, it seems there could be a chance after his medical team reassesses after a couple more treatments.
However, after more tests, the dad-of-three finally found out in March that his symptoms were caused by advanced stage prostate cancer.
Read MoreGetting him through the tougher days are his childrenReece, 9, and daughter Emilie, 7who have been notably inspired to run during school breaks to help raise funds for cancer. Mark and his wife, Lara, 40, also have a son named Rory, age 3.
"The kids have been incredible at dealing with the news of my diagnosis,” Mark shared. "Lara and I have been very honest with them and the older two wanted to take on this challenge as their way of helping out."
'I Wanted to Keep Things with My Kids as Normal as Possible'
At this advanced stage, Mark’s doctors are just trying to help him manage the disease with chemotherapy “to try and get the situation under control,” he explained, noting that he started treatment in March and is on his tenth cycle.
“I'm still in the initial stages of treatment,” he added. Once Mark gets past his twelfth dose, they will see how it is looking.
“Then we can reassess and decide what the next steps will be."
Diagnosing Pancreatic Cancer is Challenging
Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease that is difficult to detect because symptoms including jaundice and weight loss typically present at a later stage in the cancer's development.
In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Anirban Maitra, the co-leader of the Pancreatic Cancer Moon Shot at MD Anderson Cancer Center, explains what he typically sees when patients develop this disease.
"Because the pancreas is inside the abdomen often doesn't have symptoms that would tell you that something is wrong with your pancreas," he says. "By the time individuals walk into the clinic with symptoms like jaundice, weight loss, back pain or diabetes, it's often very late in the stage of the disease."
Challenges for Screening Pancreatic CancerEarly Detection is Crucial
Parents, siblings and children of someone with pancreatic cancer are considered high risk for developing the disease because they are first-degree relatives of the individual. PGVs (pathogenic germline variants) are changes in reproductive cells (sperm or egg) that become part of the DNA in the cells of the offspring. Germline variants are passed from parents to their children, and are associated with increased risks of several cancer types, including pancreatic, ovarian and breast cancers. Germline mutations in ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CKDN2A, PALB2, PRSS1, STK11 and TP53 are associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer.
Jessica Everett, a genetic counselor at NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center, encourages people in this category to look into possible screening options.
"If you're concerned about pancreatic cancer in your family, start by talking to a genetic counselor to learn more about your risk and what options you have," Everett said.
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