A man who had chest pains and ignored them 'like most men' was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

• A man who ignored his chest pain found out it was caused by stage three pancreatic cancer.
• Andrew, 57, had surgery and chemotherapy and is now cancer free.

A man with chest pain was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after a routine check-up prompted further tests.

Andrew, 57, from the UK, who only gave his first name, shared his story with the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK to give hope to others diagnosed with the disease, and to show what the treatment involves.

It's common for men to dismiss their symptoms

Andrew had been experiencing chest pain for a month before his routine check-up, but had ignored it "like most men," thinking it was just his body "beginning to give up" after 41 years of "constant work" as a plumber.

One 2019 survey by Cleveland Clinic found that almost two-thirds (65%) of men in the US will wait as long as possible before seeking medical treatment for any health symptoms they notice.

Even Andrew's doctors weren't concerned at first because he looked well, and his weight, heart rate, and blood pressure were at healthy levels.

But a few weeks after the check-up, he noticed his eyes looked yellow and his skin had become itchy – symptoms of jaundice, which is itself a common symptom of pancreatic cancer. Blood tests taken at the check-up revealed his liver had stopped working properly.

As well as jaundice, symptoms of pancreatic cancer include: indigestion, stomach or back pain, changes in your poop, unexplained weight loss, and fatigue – all of which can also be caused by other conditions, so it's important to be checked by a doctor if you have any or all of these symptoms, according to Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Pancreatic cancer can be hard to catch early

Within a few weeks, Andrew had scans that showed he had fluid in his stomach, and a biopsy confirmed that a growth on his pancreas, which had squashed his bile duct shut, was cancerous.

At this point, he said, "I wasn't feeling well at all, I had gone downhill really quickly. I had also lost a lot of weight."

Pancreatic cancer is hard to catch in the early stages, because the gland is so deep within the body that tumors can't be seen or felt in routine health checks until they are very large or have spread to other parts of the body. Andrew was diagnosed at stage three, meaning that the cancer had spread from his pancreas.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 64,050 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the US in 2023. Survival rates vary depending on how far the cancer has spread, but if it hasn't left the pancreas, patients have a 44% five-year survival rate, according to the ACS. This drops to 3% if it has spread across the body.

Smokers and older people are more at risk of developing pancreatic cancer

According to the ACS, 25% of pancreatic cancer cases are thought to be caused by smoking cigarettes. Age is also a big risk factor for pancreatic cancer as almost all patients are older than 45.

Being overweight, having a family history of pancreatic cancer, having chronic pancreatitis, or having diabetes are among other risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer.

Doctors put a stent in Andrew's squashed bile duct to open it back up, which helped drain the fluid in his stomach, and he also had surgery to remove the tumor.

By Christmas four months later, he was "well on the way to recovery" and after six months of chemotherapy, he was declared clear of cancer.