Pancreatic Cancer: Look For These Signs Now

Fatty Stools

Fatty stools or steatorrhea is a symptom of pancreatic cancer where an individual's stools are oily, bulky, and difficult to flush due to the presence of excess fat. Malignant pancreatic tumors can cause fatty stools when they are still relatively small in size if they are located at the head of the pancreas, or if they become large enough and spread to this area. The head of the pancreas is very close to the common bile duct, and a mass in this area can cause the bile duct to become blocked. When the bile duct is obstructed, a substance called bile cannot pass from the liver into the small intestine. Bile is the substance involved in the process of digestion that is responsible for breaking fats down in the food individuals consume. When bile cannot reach the small intestine, it cannot perform its function on the food moving through the digestive tract. In these cases, everything else in the food gets broken down and digested normally with the exception of fats. When the food and undigested fats are excreted from the body, it is called fatty stool.

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