General Information

 Accounts for 2% of all malignancies

 Develops among people 50-70 years old

 More common among men than women and more frequent in blacks than white

 Diabetic patients may be more prone

 More common in smokers

 Very important gland that has to do with digestion of food elements and metabolism of    sugar in the body

 Lies across the upper abdomen between peritoneum and stomach

 Pancreas produces insulin, manufactured by cells "islands of Langerhans"

 Insulin required for the utilization of carbohydrate (sugar) by the body