Yesterday I heard that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had undergone surgery to have two malignant growths removed from her lung and that she is doing well after surgery with no other signs of cancer. I wish Justice Ginsburg well.
Not to be a crepe hanger but that did bring up several questions for me. I’m not a doctor. I am unaware of a reliable blood enzyme test for pancreatic cancer. How do they know that her lung growths are not metastatic cancer? I know that metastatic cancer is when a cancer spreads to other organs beyond its original point of origin and is, presumably, diagnosed by the presence of certain blood enzymes. I also know that when you have had cancer once there is a slightly elevated risk for getting another, not just of the same type but of a different type.
Justice Ginsburg has now had cancer at least two and possibly three times. What is her present risk of getting cancer again?
If you live long enough, you will get cancer. That aside, pathologists are very good at deciding if a given tumor is primary or a met from elsewhere based on microscopy, chemical tests etc.
Walt has it. They will look at the cell types of the resected masses. If they are pancreatic, then they are metastatic from the pancreas. They could also be metastatic from other sites, again using the cell types to determine that.