Hidden symptoms of pancreatic cancer that killed Alan Rickman as his widow opens up about his difficult final months

Alan Rickman’s widow has spoken out about the actor’s final months before he died from pancreatic cancer. 

The actor, who died aged 69 in 2016, was only diagnosed with the disease six months before he passed – which is typical of pancreatic cancer patients. 

Rima Horton  told BBC Breakfast that the biggest challenge with pancreatic cancer is that symptoms are often hard to recognise – meaning many patients are diagnosed when it is already too late.

She said: ‘He lived for six months after finding out he had cancer. 

‘The chemotherapy extended his life a bit, but it didn’t cure it.’

She told presenters that the average life expectancy for pancreatic cancer patients is around three months after diagnosis.

Rickman is best remembered for playing Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, but also appeared in Die Hard, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Sense and Sensibility and Love Actually.

She is now fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer UK, in the hope that a breathalyser-style test can be developed. 

‘Our motive is to raise money for this deadly disease, because it now has one of the highest death rates,’ she said. 

‘The biggest problem is that by the time that people find out they’ve got it, it’s too late. The symptoms are so difficult to work out.’

Although the actor kept his diagnosis – and symptoms – private, crippling diarrhoea, dramatic weight loss and jaundice, when the skin and eyes take on a yellowish tinge, are among the most common symptoms. 

Other common symptoms of the incurable cancer include loss of appetite, fatigue, a high temperature, feeling or being sick, and constipation. 

The pancreas is aids digestion and produces hormones, such as insulin and glucagon, which help convert sugar from food into energy.

Pancreatic cancer can inhibit the gland from making enough of these hormones—which can lead to unstable blood sugar levels.

Research published last year suggested that more than half of patients diagnosed with the six ‘least curable’ cancers—including lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, stomach and pancreatic—die within a year of their diagnosis. 

More than 90,000 people are diagnosed with one of these deadly cancers in the UK every year, accounting for nearly half of all common cancer deaths, according to Cancer Research UK. 

Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer in the UK each year, and more than half of patients will die within three months of diagnosis. Less than eleven per cent live for five years.

There are currently no early detection tests and approximately 80 per cent of people are not diagnosed until the cancer has spread, meaning life-saving treatment is no longer possible. 

Here, the Daily Mail shares more details of the warning signs of the ‘silent killer’.

Jaundice

Jaundice, the yellowing of the skin and eyes, is one of the most common early symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

It’s caused by the build-up of bilirubin, a yellowish-brown substance made by the liver. The liver releases bile, a fluid meant to aid digestion, which contains bilirubin. 

In normal liver function, bile moves through ducts into the intestine and helps to break down fats. 

However, when bile ducts become blocked, bilirubin builds up, turning the skin and eyes yellow. 

In pancreatic cancer, this can occur due to a tumour from the neighbouring pancreas pressing down on the bile duct.

Jaundice only occurs in some early pancreatic cancer patients due to the bile duct becoming blocked if the tumour happens to grow on a certain part of the organ. 

Other signs of jaundice include dark urine, light-coloured or greasy stools and itchy skin. 

The yellowing of the skin that occurs in jaundice can be harder to spot for people with black or brown skin.

Stomach pain

Tumours that grow in certain parts of the pancreas can press on other organs and nerves in the body, causing pain in the stomach area. 

Patients describe it as a ‘dull’ pain that feels like it is ‘boring into you’ with it typically appearing at the top part of the tummy area. 

This pain can also result if a tumour blocks the digestive tract. 

Pain may come and go at first but will become more constant as the disease progresses.

It can feel worse when lying down or after eating but may be alleviated by sitting forward. 

However, it should be noted that pain is only a potential symptom of pancreatic cancer. Some patients, due to the precise location of their tumour, never experience pain at all. 

Back pain 

Pain may also spread from the stomach to the back. 

This pain is generally persistent and is most often localised to the mid-back, or just below the shoulder blades. 

Like stomach pain, if this symptom occurs at all, it can depend on the specific location of tumour.

Some patients only have back pain and not stomach pain, which is, again, linked to the specific shape of their tumour and how it is pressing on other tissues.  

Sudden weight loss

People with pancreatic cancer can suffer from unexplained weight loss.

This can occur due to problems with the pancreas, which helps digest food, and/or from people losing appetite due to other symptoms like pain. 

Cancers can sap energy from the body as tumours grow, which can also result in weight loss. 

People with unexplained weight loss in combination with other symptoms like pain or change in bowel habits are advised to speak to their GP. 

Floating stools  

Unusual changes in bowel movements could be a sign of pancreatic cancer.

This can take the form of either constipation or diarrhoea due to the general upset to the digestive process.

But a specific sign can be floating, pale and oily poo. 

Medically called steatorrhoea, these are frequent, large bowel movements that are pale coloured, smelly, float in the toilet bowl, and are difficult to flush away.

They are caused by fat that is normally absorbed by the body, instead being undigested and ending up in the stool.

The pancreatic cancer disrupts the normal digestive process and limits the amounts of pancreatic enzymes released in the intestines.

These enzymes help digest food, and a lack of them leads to problems as undigested food passes quickly through the digestive tract.