Pancreas cancer - Your digestive system

Pancreas cancer

More about your digestive system

Your pancreas is part of your digestive system, which includes the parts of your body that help you deal with the food you eat.

Your

pancreas
Your pancreas is an organ that's behind your stomach. It makes several different chemicals. Some of the chemicals help your body digest food. Your pancreas also makes a chemical called insulin, which helps your body use the sugar in your blood.

pancreas lies behind your stomach.

Your pancreas is part of your digestive system.

One end of your pancreas joins your duodenum. This is the first part of your small intestine, the tube that takes food away from your stomach.

The other end of your pancreas lies near your spleen. Your spleen removes worn-out cells from your blood. It also helps you fight infections.

The pancreas is also near your

liver
Your liver is a large organ that sits on the right side of your body, just below your rib cage. It does several important things, including processing and storing nutrients from food, and breaking down chemicals, such as alcohol.

liver, your

gallbladder
The gallbladder is a small organ located below the liver on the right side of your abdomen. Its job is to store bile, a chemical made in the liver that helps to break down food in the intestines.The chemicals in the gallbladder can, under certain circumstances, become solid and form small stones. If a stone gets stuck in the tubes that empty the gallbladder, there can be a backup of fluid, causing the gallbladder to swell and possibly become infected. This condition is called gallbladder disease.

gallbladder and your large intestine.

Your liver does several important jobs, including storing nutrients and getting rid of alcohol from your body.

Your liver also makes a fluid called bile, which is stored in your gallbladder. Bile is a chemical that helps you break down food. Bile passes through the common bile duct into your duodenum.

See More about your pancreas and bile duct.

Your small intestine (including your duodenum) and your large intestine make up the long tube that carries food out of your stomach. Food and water are absorbed from your intestines into your blood. Waste products stay in your intestine and pass out in your stools.

This information was last updated on Apr 22, 2009

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.

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