How is pancreatic cancer so different from other cancers?

Difficult: Pancreatic cancer is difficult to locate, does not tend to be seen on ct until it is large, location makes surgical removal difficult or impossible, little or no symptoms from the cancer until it is large, does not tend to respond very well to chemotherapy or radiation therapy, can grow back even after surgical removal...

It resides in a : Critial anatomic cross roads of GI tract, ducts draining liver and pancreas, and key blood vessels that cannot be extracted. By the time it produces sympotoms, it commonlt has engulfed teh key structures or already spread. No early warning tests either, and does not respond to our present tools very well.

Deep gland: Hi. The pancreas is deep in the abdomen and cannot be felt on physical exam. Therefore, the diagnosis is not considered until it causes signs and/or symptoms (e.g., pain, nausea, jaundice), by which time it's had the opportunity to grow and spread.