Slashdot Mirror
Steve Jobs Undergoes Cancer Surgery
Zycom writes "Reuters reports that doctors successfully removed a cancerous tumor from the pancreas of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. In an e-mail he sent out from his hospital bed after the surgery he explained the disease, saying, "I had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, which represents about 1 percent of the total cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed each year, and can be cured by surgical removal if diagnosed in time (mine was)." He will not need to have any chemotherapy or radiation therapy and has an excellent prognosis. While he is recuperating, Tim Cook, head of worldwide sales and operations, will run the company."
I'm glad all is going well for him. He's lucky he fell into that rare 1%. Pancreatic cancer is one of the more deadly types of cancer.
Here's a link to an article incuding his full letter
The "Insert Quote Here" line is almost as predictable as inserting an actual quote.
Uh, sorry to double up, but BTW: LIVESTRONG is Lance Armstrong's Cancer Survivor non-profit. That yellow armband that you see on John Kerry's wrist--it's related to this. If you are a MAC (couldn't resist) fanboi, please give a few bucks in Steve's name.
"...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
Not quite- his warranty covers everything, except that little bit of his pancreas.
(I discovered a few weeks ago that the little flippy part of my power adapter..duck-something is what the guy at the store called it... is not covered by warranty, supposedly. Probably because they break like crazy. 3-goddam-thousand-dollar laptop and they want to charge me $20 for the little flippy power plug bit).
Please help metamoderate.
Not really, you cannot remove all of the beta cells (the ones that produce insulin) in a pancreas w/o removing the entire thing.
They just took out a tumor.
The most ironic thing about this, is that it is at least partially true. Former Xerox CEO David T. Kearns was diagnosed with sinus cancer in 1992.
For those that don't know, Kearns was they guy in charge in the 80s during Xerox's turnaround.
--- At my sig, unleash hell.
Overview
Definition:
A pancreatic islet cell tumor is an uncommon tumor of the pancreas that arises from a distinct type of cell in the pancreas, the islet cell. Normally, islet cells produce insulin and other hormones, and islet cell tumors can also produce hormones.
Alternative Names:
Islet cell tumors; Islet of Langerhans tumor; Neuroendocrine tumors
Causes, incidence, and risk factors:
In the normal pancreas, cells called islet cells produce hormones that regulate a variety of bodily functions, such as blood sugar level and the production of stomach acid.
Tumors that arise from islet cells of the pancreas can also produce a variety of hormones, though some do not. Although islet cells produce many different hormones, most tumors secrete only one specific hormone that leads to specific symptoms. Pancreatic islet cell tumors can be benign or malignant (cancerous).
Islet cell tumors include insulinomas, glucagonomas, and gastrinomas (Zollinger-Ellison syndrome). A family history of multiple endocrine neoplasia, type I (MEN I) is a risk factor for the development of islet cell tumors.
Symptoms:
* Sweating
* Tremor
* Rapid heart rate
* Anxiety
* Hunger
* Dizziness
* Headache
* Clouding of vision
* Confusion
* Behavioral changes
* Convulsions
* Loss of consciousness
* Skin rash that migrates on the face, abdomen, perineum, buttocks, or lower extremities
o May be crusty and scaly
o May have raised lesions filled with clear fluid or pus
* Inflamed mouth and tongue
* Weight loss
* Weight gain (unintentional)
* Peptic ulcer pain
* Vomiting blood
* Diarrhea
* Abdominal pain
Note: The symptoms depend upon the type of tumor and the hormone produced.
Signs and tests:
The type of tests performed may vary depending upon the symptoms associated with the condition. Some of the following abnormalities may be detected on testing:
* elevated serum glucagon level
* an abdominal CT scan may reveal a pancreatic tumor (sometimes the tumor may be too small to see with a CT scan)
* elevated fasting glucose level
* abnormal glucose tolerance test
* catheterization of the pancreas to show high hormone level in the veins (this involves putting a wire into a blood vessel and taking blood out for measurements)
* MRI of abdomen to show pancreatic tumor (MRI can sometimes see smaller tumors than those seen with a CT scan)
* elevated serum insulin level
* elevated serum insulin C-peptide
* low fasting glucose level
* increased gastrin level
* positive secretin stimulation test for pancreas
* positive calcium infusion test
Treatment:
Treatment will depend upon the type of tumor discovered and whether the tumor is benign or malignant. Malignant tumors spread to other organs, grow aggressively, and may not be treatable. In general, tumors are removed surgically, if possible.
If malignant cancerous cells spread (metastasize) to the liver, a portion of the liver may also be removed, if possible. If the cancer is widespread, various forms of chemotherapy may be used to shrink the tumors.
If the abnormal production of hormones is causing problems, medications may be given to counteract their effects. For example, the overproduction of gastrin in the case of gastrinomas results in oversecretion of acid in the stomach, and medications that block acid secretion can be taken to reduce symptoms.
Expectations (prognosis):
Patients may be cured if tumors are surgically removed before they have spread to other organs. If tumors are malignant, chemotherapy may be used, but is usually unsuccessful at cur
I don't know if he does, but the neuroendocrine tumor in his islet cells would have affected insulin production which in turn would have caused symptoms such as:
Steve's doctors would have tested for a number of things including:
They would have have then ordered abdominal MRI scans, because these tumors (in the Islet of Langerhans) would likely be too small to see by CT scans). If the MRIs were positive, surgery would be next.
If the tumor had metastasized, a portion of the liver would have also been removed, and chemotherapy would have been used. As that appears not to be the case, Steve's tumor is likely a pre-malignant lesion.
"Duck head". Called that because it looks vaguely like a Disney(R) trademarked character when viewed at the right angle. If you squint. It's true it's not normally covered by warranty: they're very simple physical parts that would only normally break due to abuse by a user. If you can explain the nature of the failure to AppleCare support, and indicate you didn't mistreat the poor thing, they might send you a free one. Hope this helps. :-)
Live simply, that others may simply live. -Gandhi
... one of the authors of PearPC was hit by a train and killed.
More on their site
Sig: I stole this sig.