2. Weight Loss

Since the pancreas serves both as a digestive organ and a sugar-regulating organ, eventual weight loss can be expected and could be a result of any of three ways.

Firstly, the production of amylase and lipase, enzymes that breakdown starches and fats into absorbable forms the body can use, is impaired in people suffering from pancreatic cancer, which makes it difficult for them to get the proper nourishment they need from food, causing weight loss.

Secondly, people with pancreatic cancer lose their appetite, making them unable to appreciate the food they eat, therefore consuming less calories in the process, another reason for the weight loss seen in patients.

Lastly, the impaired insulin and glucagon production seen in pancreatic cancer patients prevents glucose, a form of sugar used by the body to fuel its cells, from being used, starving the body and making it seek other sources of fuel to burn. When this happens, the body turns to its fat stores, slowly depleting it, causing weight loss. In severe cases, when all of the fat stored in the body has been used, muscle mass begins to decrease as the body now slowly eats up the proteins to use them as fuel, leading to further weight loss.