Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms: Subtle Early Signs and Advanced Manifestations

Pancreatic cancer is often asymptomatic in its early stages, leading to late diagnosis. When symptoms appear, they may include:

• Epigastric or back pain (often radiating)
• Jaundice (typically painless, from bile duct obstruction)
• Unintentional weight loss and anorexia
• Nausea and vomiting
• Fatigue
• Dark urine and pale stools
• New-onset diabetes (especially in lean individuals over 50)
• Thrombophlebitis migrans (Trousseau's sign)

Any persistent, unexplained combination of these symptoms warrants urgent evaluation: CT/MRI, CA 19-9, and possibly EUS/FNA. Early surgical resection offers the only curative chance.