Categories: People

Diabetes: Potential for Pancreatic Cancer

Aretha Franklin is often seen in advertisements of products for diabetics, especially in ads for insulin. When the possibility of her having pancreatic cancer was raised, the information on diabetes and pancreatic links allowed for an important discussion.

Diabetes is one of the risk factors for pancreatic cancer, according to health experts. It is yet unclear if diabetes causes pancreatic cancer or the cancer produces diabetes. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network declares, “In pancreatic cancer patients who have had diabetes for less than five years, it is unclear if the diabetes contributed to the cancer or if the precancerous cells caused the diabetes.”

Franklin was born March 25, 1942. Known as the Queen of Soul, her music, rooted in gospel, became widely known in the 1960’s, beginning with her best-known song called “Respect.” She is considered not just a legend in her own special venue of soul music but in the pop music field as a whole. Her popularity and status in the world of entertainment brought her as one of the leading entertainers at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Pancreatic cancer kills most of its victims. The link between diabetes and pancreatic cancer reveals the vulnerability that Franklin has had, particularly given the fact she is African American. Both pancreatic cancer and diabetes affects more African Americans than any other ethnic group.

A study done in 2008 by the Mayo Clinic revealed that diabetes was present in patients many months before a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. Researchers concluded that the cancer caused the diabetes to develop. They suggested that onset of diabetes after age 50 should elicit an evaluation for pancreatic cancer as well. Since pancreatic cancer patients seldom have symptoms until the disease has progressed too far for surgery to be an option, the diagnosis of diabetes is seen as significant enough for doctors to follow up with their patients and screen for pancreatic cancer.

Reports state Franklin had surgery in mid December, and it was after that the issue of pancreatic cancer was raised. The particulars of the surgery have not been provided, but the hypotheses has been it was cancer surgery. If so, this procedure may not cure the cancer itself but patients who have surgery for pancreatic cancer have a higher rate of survival over a five-year period. There are those few who are actually cured, so it is possible Franklin’s health may have been impacted positively by her surgery.

The relationship between diabetes and the onset of pancreatic cancer, along with the fact that Aretha Franklin is African American, allows the public to know the dynamics of diagnosis and how vital it is for risk factors to be assessed, as the Mayo Clinic suggests. Diabetes is a deadly disease in that it causes many other problems such as heart attack, stroke, blindness, liver or kidney disease or pancreatic cancer. In the case of Franklin, her celebrity status has helped to educate the public, no matter her diagnosis or the actual link established, even as her diabetes has helped many know about the disease and how it can be treated.

Facing Pancreatic Cancer
http://www.pancan.org/section_facing_pancreatic_cancer/learn_about_pan_cancer/diet_and_nutrition/Diabetes.php
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

The Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin
http://www.aretha-franklin.com/
Documentaries.Net

Aretha Franklin Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer: Are African Americans at Greater Risk of Similar Fate
http://rollingout.com/insiderohome/ro-today/12111-aretha-franklin-diagnosed-with-pancreatic-cancer-tips-to-avoid-a-similar-fate.html
rolllingout.com

Mayo Clinic Finds Further Association Between Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer
http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2008-rst/4419.html
Mayo Clinic

Pancreatic Cancer Overview
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/PancreaticCancer/OverviewGuide/pancreatic-cancer-overview-treating-surgery
Learn About Cancer