Pancreatic cancer may be the worst form of cancer a person can have. In this Health Watch Report, we learn about the symptoms and how one woman is trying to beat her cancer.

Deborah McGee was enjoying the good life. She was a successful attorney, she was happily married, and the future looked bright. Then late last year she suddenly had no energy, and dealt with episodes of itchy hands and feet that she could not shake, so her doctor decided to run some tests.

"I was still sort of groggy from the scoping procedure and he was talking about an ampulary carcinoma, and all I heard was carcinoma, and I thought, 'that's cancer, isn't it'?" said McGee.

It turned out to be pancreatic cancer.

"It was just sort of a, this can't be happening to me. This is not real, I'm still under anesthetic, obviously," said McGee.

Although pancreatic cancer accounts for just 2 percent of new cases each year, it is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths.

"Most patients, unfortunately present with disease that has already spread outside the pancreas by the time the diagnosis is made," said surgeon Dr. William Fisher.

Because the pancreas is located deep in the middle of the abdomen, it is hard to detect. Symptoms might include:

Abdominal pain

Loss of appetite

Fatigue

Unexplained weight loss

Jaundice - Or a yellowing of the skin and eyes.

"The standard treatment for the minority who still have the tumor confined to the pancreas is surgery. After that we usually add chemotherapy and radiation therapy," said Fisher.

Even with all of that treatment, the average patient still only lives another 15 to 20 months.

But Deborah took part in a study that adds two medications, Cysplatin and Inteferon Alpha, to the normal treatment regimen. It is very tough on patients, but phase 1 of the study showed more than 50 percent survived at least five years, and Deborah is hoping she falls into that category.

"I recognize that five years, in my situation, will be a gift, but every single day will be," said McGee

Researchers at the Elkins Pancreas Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are currently conducting gene therapy studies in order to find a marker for pancreatic cancer, much like the PSA level for prostate cancer.

If successful, the hope is that people would be screened for pancreatic cancer, and the disease could hopefully be caught much earlier.

You can reach the Elkins Pancreas Center for more information by calling: 1-877-PANC CTR.

If you would like more medical news, visit our health partners Web sites by clicking on each link:

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

The Mayo Clinic

Baylor College of Medicine