Patient Education Cancer of the Pancreas: A Care Guide | Page 9

Genetics
Staging information can seem very
confusing, but your doctor and nurse
navigator will help you understand
your staging once your surgery and
pathology are complete. This will help
with planning for future treatment
options.
Genetic counseling and testing is a
service available through our Genetic
Counseling Program. Based on your
diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, you
may want to discuss the chance your
cancer could be hereditary as well
as your family’s cancer risk with
Licensed Cancer Genetic Counselor
(LGC).
These personal and family history
features make it more likely that a
discussion with an LGC would be
helpful:
• You are Ashkenazi Jewish.
• You have had pancreatic cancer
as well as another cancer such
as breast, ovarian, endometrial,
melanoma, thyroid, sarcoma,
colorectal, small bowel, gastric, or
kidney.
• Your family history includes any
first-degree relative (parent, sibling,
child) diagnosed with:
— Breast, colon, or endometrial
cancer before the age of 50
— Male breast cancer
— Ovarian cancer
— Any known genetic mutation
• You have two or more relatives
with any combination of these
cancers: breast, ovarian, prostate,
pancreatic, male breast, melanoma,
uterine, thyroid, sarcoma,
colorectal, small bowel, gastric, or
kidney.
Please feel free to call our Mount
Carmel Genetic Counseling Program
with any questions or for more
information: 614-234-6848.
Other Factors
Other factors are also important in
determining prognosis (outlook). The
grade of the cancer — how abnormal
the cells look under the microscope
— is sometimes noted to be low,
intermediate, or high grade.
For patients who have surgery,
another important factor is the extent
of the resection — whether or not
the entire tumor is removed. This is
sometimes listed on a scale from
0 to 2.
• R0 – where all visible and
microscopic tumor tissue was
removed.
• R1 – when microscopic cancer
cells are present at the resection
margins.
• R2 – where some visible tumor
could not be removed.
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